Stolpersteine in Madrid:  Honoring the Victims of Nazism

ENGLISH CORNER, CON LINDA JIMÉNEZ – This week’s trivia question:  How many stolpersteine are there in Madrid, and mostly in which neighborhoods?

The Stolpersteine project, initiated by the German artist Gunter Demnig in 1992, aims to commemorate persons at the last place that they chose freely to reside, work or study before they fell victim to Nazi terror. The vast majority of these stones, which bear a brass plate engraved with the person’s name and dates of birth, deportation and death, are located in countries which had formerly been under Nazi control or occupied by Nazi Germany. 

However, even though Spain was not directly involved in the Holocaust, many Spaniards were also victims of Nazism.  In 2019 Isabel Martinez and Jesus Rodriguez began to look into the histories of people from Madrid who were deported and assassinated by the Nazis.  On April 26 of that year the first stolperstein was laid, by Gunter Demnig himself, in Madrid, and since then many more have been laid in the city.  This week we are speaking with Isabel and Jesus’ daughter, Aida Rodriguez, about the Stolpersteine Project in Madrid.

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And if you happen to be in Madrid, and would like to learn more about it in person, La Central bookstore in Madrid is presenting MADRID 100 STOLPERSTEINE on February 11.  This is a folder containing the map of the stolpersteine in Madrid, photographs of each one and six reproductions of watercolors by David Cárdenas Lorenzo, inspired by the stories of six of the people commemorated. Both Isabel and Jesús will be there, so you will be able to meet them in person. Click here for more information.

For more information about the project, you can contact Isabel and Jesús at:

–Instagram: @istolpersteine 

– X/Twitter: @istolpersteine

– email: ibstolpersteine@gmail.com

And you can purchase the map here or here.

(NOTE: Every January 27, Europe commemorates Holocaust Remembrance Day.  This date was chosen because it’s the anniversary of the liberation of the Auschwitz concentration camp by Soviet troops in 1945.  This year, English Corner is commemorating this day with this program.)