Lichtenfelser Stolpersteine: An open project with many roots

The P-Seminar "Lichtenfels Stolpersteine" of the Meranier-Gymnasium (2019/21). © City of Lichtenfels

The victims lived among us, they were fellow citizens and they have a right never to be forgotten.

Andreas Hügerich

 

The current P-Seminar "Lichtenfelser Stolpersteine" (Lichtenfels Stumbling Stones) of the Meranier-Gymnasium (Head of the seminar: StDin Beate Offermanns, expert advice: StD. a.D. Manfred Brösamle-Lambrecht) dedicated itself in 2019-21 to Jewish families and other Nazi victims in Lichtenfels and reconstructed their biographies. Due to the pandemic, it will probably not be possible to lay the "Stolpersteine" in honor of these individuals until 2022.

In close cooperation with the city of Lichtenfels, research was conducted in archives and on the Internet. In many cases, it was also possible to contact descendants of the displaced Jewish families, who provided invaluable assistance in the reconstruction in each case. Since then, the first Stolpersterine were laid.

Lichtenfels has a rich Jewish history - rich, but often conflictual, sometimes violent. Remembering this history has been the effort of the city not only since the first Stolpersteine; the Action Alliance organizes memorial services on every anniversary (9.11.) of the November pogroms of 1938, the synagogue was bought by the city of Lichtenfels in 1998, renovated and put to a worthy use. The so-called School (or: Shul) fountain in the Badgasse is another minor memorial, which is intended to commemorate the victims of the Nazi regime. The Bamberger family was the subject of a major exhibition in November 2019, organized by the City of Lichtenfels (City Archivist Christine Wittenbauer) in "Sonnenhaus" in Lichtenfels.

For a long time Lichtenfels was considering laying Stolpersteine, but only the generous donation by Mr. Klaus Kleiner in 2018 finally lead to the realization.

After the city council's decision, city archivist Dipl. Hist. Christine Wittenbauer set about implementing the content and organization. All of these activities were supported competently by Bezirksheimatpfleger Prof. Dr. Günter Dippold (Custos of the district Upper Franconia) and were very much appreciated.

 

November 9, 2018: While Günter Demnig sets the Stolpersteine for the Zinn family, Julia Mehrmann and Antonia Voll from the P-Seminar "13 Driver's Licenses" present the biographies of the victims. In the background Mayor Andreas Hügerich. © Heidi Bauer

Then, the project "13 Driver's Licenses" happened and contributed: In the basement of the Lichtenfels District Office, employees had found a faded envelope in February 2017, which contained, among other things, the driver's licenses of 13 Jewish citizens; the licenses had been revoked in 1938. Inspired and supported by District Administrator Christian Meißner, the P-Seminar "13 Driver's Licenses" at the Meranier-Gymnasium 2018-19, led by StD Manfred Brösamle-Lambrecht, set out to research the biographies of the thirteen people, ten of whom had lived in Lichtenfels. The 14 students succeeded in reconstructing each of the biographies and establishing contacts with their descendants on three continents. The "Stolpersteine" in honor of these people were the first to be laid. Their biographies will be successively added to the site.

The sources of this website are manifold and as the site will remain open for future contributions and further improvements and clarifications, more sources will be added in due course.