Gunter Demnig is the initiator of the “Stolpersteine” project to commemorate the victims of National Socialism Photo: Nadine Weigel/dpa
From BZ
He has laid almost 100,000 stumbling blocks since the mid-1990s.
Gunter Demnig celebrates his 75th birthday on Thursday.
The Berlin-born artist placed the almost ten by ten centimeter cubes on the sidewalks in front of the last homes of people who were deported, murdered or driven to suicide by the National Socialists.
Federal President Frank-Walter Steinmeier (66) said that Demnig had “created a unique and globally exemplary memorial for the victims of Nazi terror”. The artist is a reminder of “what happens when human dignity is violated and people are persecuted for political, racist or religious reasons”.