The »Stumbling Block Committee« (List of participants) – a non-partisan platform of over 400 people – with support from the city of Salzburg, brought the internationally acclaimed project STOLPERSTEINE (German for »stumbling blocks« or »memory stones«) by the German artist Gunter Demnig to Salzburg in 2007.
Image: Walter Schweinöster
The project is directed against forgetting. It wants the memory of the expulsion and extermination of Jews, Roma and Sinti, politically persecuted, homosexuals, Jehovah’s Witnesses and victims of euthanasia under National Socialism to be kept alive.
The commemoration of the fate of these people is marked by brass »paving stones« with key data in front of the last place of residence of their own choosing.
The project is financed through private initiative in the form of sponsorships which individuals undertake for STUMBLING BLOCKS.
Through the dedicated efforts of historians, individuals, representatives of cultural institutions and politicians from all parties it was possible to lay the first STUMBLING BLOCKS in seven places in the city of Salzburg in August 2007.
There are currently 517 STUMBLING BLOCKS laid in the City of Salzburg.
The artist Gunter Demnig is convinced: »The more blocks that are laid and can be seen, the greater the interest-even though it can be painful-history may not become prey to oblivion«
The members of the committee thank the City of Salzburg for their support!