Stolpersteine in 2023

First Stolpersteine laid in Oegstgeest
Stolpersteine were laid at four locations in Oegstgeest on April 12, amid great interest. Each stone is engraved in brass with the name of a victim of the Nazi regime. They are cemented into the road surface in front of the address where the victim last lived. It is a project by the German artist Gunter Demnig who has laid 100,000 stones throughout almost all of Europe since 1996. The size of the project is impressive, but the actual number of victims in the Second World War even more so; In the Netherlands alone, 102,000 Jews were murdered and 123,000 other Dutch people died due to acts of war, hunger, lack of healthcare, executions and Arbeitseinsatz.
Interested parties, relatives, mayor Emile Jaensch and former mayors Sjoerd Scheenstra and Els Timmers gathered in the town hall on April 12, where researcher Cecile aan de Stegge, Leo Levie, member of the Jewish community of Leiden and survivor Ida Cahen talked about life and the fate of some victims.

In every municipality where a Stolpersteine is laid for the first time, Gunter Demnig carries out the act himself. After the meeting, he laid the foundation stone next to the entrance to the town hall in memory of Elisa Alida Lioni-Goldschmidt. Stones were laid at the entrance building of Endegeest for Amalia Sophia Cahen, Levie Emanuel Fruitman, Maurits van Gelderen, Frouktje van Zand and Betje Rozevelt-de Vries. The current town hall (Rhijngeest), Voorgeest and Endegeest castle with associated pavilions used to form the Endegeest psychiatric hospital. The six victims were nursed there. They were deported because of their Jewish background. As the legal successor, GGZ Rivierduinen financed the six stones. Leo Levie, himself involved in the laying of Stolpersteine in Leiden, said a prayer for the victims.

A stone was then laid for Aleida Maria Goudsmit-Cohen at Frederik Hendriklaan 18. In a cheerful photo she sits with family members in front of the house, which has changed little since then. The photo was brought by surviving relative Jetteke Bolten, who brings Aleida to life with her story. Residents from the street listen attentively. When two classes of primary school students walk past, their attention is drawn. “Is anyone dead?” they want to know. They receive an explanation and crowd around to look at the stone. “What is that, being Jewish?” asks a girl. For her there is no distinction. The children are impressed and massively respond to the request to wave an imaginary greeting to Aleida Goudsmit who once lived here.
Demnig cements each brick into the road surface meticulously, almost tenderly. Concentrated and silent, he performs the actions he has performed so many times before. He transports his tools and materials in a red bus, which he uses every month for two weeks to different places in Europe. The victims’ stories still deeply affect Demnig. You never get used to it. While laying the bricks, he is not concerned with the many interested people surrounding him. His thoughts are only with the victim. This also applies to the last two victims for whom he lays a stone: Baruch Pinto and Rosalie Pinto-Juchenheim, who lived in a boarding house at Warmonderweg 24.