Hemiksem - Stolpersteine

Information: Wikipedia

A Stolperstein literally "stumbling stone", metaphorically a "stumbling block" is a sett-size, 10 by 10 centimetres (3.9 in × 3.9 in) concrete cube bearing a brass plate inscribed with the name and life dates of victims of Nazi extermination or persecution.

 

The Stolpersteine project, initiated by the German artist Gunter Demnig in 1992, aims to commemorate individuals at exactly the last place of residency—or, sometimes, work—which was freely chosen by the person before he or she fell victim to Nazi terror, euthanasia, eugenics, was deported to a concentration or extermination camp, or escaped persecution by emigration or suicide. As of 29 March 2018, over 67,000 Stolpersteine have been laid in 22 countries, making the Stolpersteine project the world's largest decentralized memorial.

 

The majority of Stolpersteine commemorate Jewish victims of the Holocaust. Others have been placed for Sinti and Romani people (then also called "gypsies"), homosexuals, the physically or mentally disabled, Jehovah's Witnesses, black people, members of the Communist Party, the Social Democratic Party, and the anti-Nazi Resistance, the Christian opposition (both Protestants and Catholics), and Freemasons, along with International Brigade soldiers in the Spanish Civil War, military deserters, conscientious objectors, escape helpers, capitulators, "habitual criminals", looters, and others charged with treason, military disobedience, or undermining the Nazi military, as well as Allied soldiers.

 

List of Stolpersteine in the city of Hemiksem

Ketinglei 49: PIERRE VERBRUGGEN


Ketinglei 49

hier woonde

PIERRE VERBRUGGEN

geb. 1918

scheepshersteller

verzetsstrijder

gearresteerd 4.11.1943

geïnterneerd

Breendonk

geëxecuteerd 25.5.1944

Antwerpen

Ketinglei 49

here lived

PIERRE VERBRUGGEN

born 1918

ship repairer

resistance fighter

arrested 4.11.1943

interned

Breendonk

executed 25.5.1944

Antwerpen

Pierre Verbruggen, then 26, had been working as a ship repairman at Mercantile since the turn of the year 1942-1943. Six months later he went into hiding.  According to a German document, he was active in the ‘terrorist movement Jules Drayers’. The members of that group were known for always carrying loaded firearms. Pierre was arrested on 3 November 1943 and executed in Maria-ter-Heide on 25 May 1944.”