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 Sint-Andries Brugge

Serreynstraat 22: ALBERT SERREYN

                                BERTHA SERREYN

At the outbreak of the Second World War, Albert was 25 years old and working as an accountant in the abbey of Zevenkerken. The 'Organisation Todt' (the 'Oberbauleitung Belgien') was located there, which would provide Albert with useful information to carry out sabotage and attacks for the resistance. Within the Independence Front he belonged to the Partisan Army, which was responsible for armed resistance. In the autumn of 1943, the leader of the partisan army was arrested and Albert was asked to take over command.

In May 1944, the group around Albert sabotaged a train in Aalter. But the Gestapo had been tipped off by an infiltrator* and was waiting for them. Most of the 20 resistance members were arrested on the spot, Albert was able to escape, but the Nazis also kept an eye on the addresses of the partisans. On May 26, he was arrested, loaded into a car and taken to Ghent prison. Normally he would be taken from there to the camps, but on June 2 the Germans wanted to take revenge for a resistance attack on their officers. They selected some political prisoners, including Albert. In Oostakker a pit was dug and they had to stand in front of it with a target on their chest. And there they were executed without mercy. Albert was 29 years old.

Bertha Serreyn was 15 years old when the war broke out, she had to quit school and help in the family business. One day she came home and saw her brother Albert working with guns. Albert explained that he was in the resistance, and because of what she had now seen, she had to join too. She started resistance activities in 1942, when she was 17. Her age and her beautiful appearance made her an ideal courier.

On that fateful May 26, the Gestapo returned to the Serreyns' home to round up the rest of the family. Bertha was imprisoned in 't Pandereitje in Bruges. She was then transferred to Sint-Gillis in Brussels, where the torture continued.  On September 1, 1944, the German occupiers decided to evacuate Sint-Gillis as quickly as possible and transports immediately left for Germany. Due to an act of resistance by the railway staff, the train got stuck on a side track. The Red Cross then negotiated with the Nazis about the exchange of prisoners and after a few days they were released.

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