“Stumbling Block” in Memory of Nazi Victims
Freie Universität Commemorates Former, Murdered Inhabitants of Buildings Now Belonging to the University
№ 233/2010 from Jul 13, 2010
In memory of victims of National Socialism, a “stumbling block” will be laid in front of a villa in Dahlem, at Rheinbabenallee 49, on Friday, July 16, 2010. Emil Milch, a textile businessman, lived in the villa until his deportation to the Sachsenhausen concentration camp. On March 20, 1945, he was murdered in Sachsenhausen. Freie Universität acquired the building in the 1970s. Today it is the seat of the university’s Center for French Studies and Center for Italian Studies.
At the beginning of July, another “stumbling block” was laid in front of the villa at Hittorfstrasse 16, where the Czech clothing manufacturer Bernhard Einzig lived until 1942. In the early 1940s he and his wife hid in their villa from the Nazis. When Einzig was trying to escape to Switzerland, he was arrested and murdered in the Theresienstadt concentration camp. His wife Eugenie and a friend of the family were able to escape. Hittorfstrasse 16 currently houses Dahlem Research School of Freie Universität.
The memorial stones are made of brass by the artist Gunter Demnig and set into sidewalks in front of the homes of victims of National Socialism. Thus far, these “stumbling blocks” have been laid in more than 500 locations in Europe.
Time and Place:
- Friday, July 16, 2010, 5 p.m.
- Entrance area of the Center for French Studies, Freie Universität, Rheinbabenallee 49, 14199 Berlin
Further Information
Office of News and Public Affairs, Freie Universität, Email: kommunikationsstelle@fu-berlin.de