Description

Publication series Biographical Search for Traces complete after 10 years

In Bremen, more than 1,500 people fell victim to National Socialist tyranny; the number of people deported, persecuted or taken into “protective custody” is many times higher. The artist Gunter Demnig commemorates the victims of National Socialism by installing stumbling blocks – commemorative plaques made of brass – in the pavement in front of their last place of residence. Between 2004 and 2022, 760 stumbling blocks were laid in Bremen.

An extensive biographical search for traces preceded the minimal biographical data on the stumbling blocks. The Initiativkreis Stolpersteine ​​Bremen published all biographies in seven Volumes, sorted by city and district. The books build on each other in that, in addition to the local focus, they also contain different, fundamental depictions of Bremen during the Nazi era. The first volume of the series was published in 2013. A total of 56 volunteer authors wrote texts for the publication series. The books were compiled and edited by Barbara Johr and Peter Christoffersen.

The seventh and last volume, Hemelingen/Osterholz, has now been published. In addition to the biographical outlines, it again contains a number of different articles: Traces of the Nazi era in the districts, Jewish cemetery Hastedt, Eastern Jews in Sebaldsbrück, Bremen mental hospital. Other contributions go beyond the local reference: everyday life of Bremen's Jews in the Nazi era, Jewish cattle trade in Bremen, Bremen's Jews in sports, "Poland Action" 1938, Gestapo in Bremen. The book is accompanied by a city map with marking of the places of laying and the Nazi traces. As the last volume in the series, it also contains an index of people, keywords and articles for all seven volumes.