Stolpersteine, stumbling stones, pietre d’inciampo, placas Stolpersteine
A way to tell history through a widespread mosaic
On March 7th 2024 thirteen new stumbling stones were laid in Milan to remember victims of Nazi fascism to complete the other thirteen ones placed on January 27th, on the International Remembrance Day designated by UN 2005 to commemorate the date when the Auschwitz concentration camp was liberated.
A Stolperstein is a ten-centimetre (3.9 in) concrete cube bearing a brass plate inscribed with the name and details of victims of Nazi persecution. The stones represent a new vision of urban remembrance.
The inscription on each stone begins “Here lived”, followed by the victim’s name, date of birth, and fate: in the vast majority of cases, deportation and murder.
The idea was first conceived by artist Gunter Demnig in Cologne in 1992 to commemorate victims outside their last-known freely chosen residence.
“A person is only forgotten when his or her name is forgotten,” he often says, citing the Talmud.
To read the stone, you must bow before the victim.
Today, the Stolpersteine exist in 20 languages and 24 countries. In Italian they are called pietre d’inciampo, in Spanish placas Stolpersteine, in French pavés de mémoire/Stolpersteine.
In Milan the first plate was installed 2017 to honour Alberto Segre, father of the senator for life Liliana Segre. 
The block reads: born in Milan December 12th 1899, arrested December 8th 1943 because of anti-Semitic hatred. Deported Auschwitz, murdered on April 27th 1944.
Up till now 197 stumbling stones had beenlaid in Milan in 158 different streets: every year between January and March 6th (European Day of the Righteous) new more are added. Each brass cube is engraved by hand, letter by letter, with a hammer and hand-held metal stamps.
Milan map of stumbling stones
The costs of Stolpersteine are covered by individual donations, local public fund raising, contemporary witnesses, school classes, or community funds.
The Stolperstein is inserted at flush level into the roadway or sidewalk, with the intention to “trip up the passer-by” and draw attention to the victims in a vivid and personal way.
A different vision of the Shoah remembrance which makes the hundreds of stumbling stones scattered worldwide the largest decentralised monument in the world.
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