We have decided to join a project course on digitizing the Stolpersteine of some victims from Hagen. In order to digitize the stumbling blocks, research must first be carried out. Afterwards, the researched data will be revised, summarized and finally translated into different languages. These are then set to music by us and inserted in a digital map by professionals of the city of Hagen. The digital map shows where each of the Stolpersteine is situated in Hagen and where additional information can be called up by clicking on them. So far, 14 digital Stolpersteine have been provided with information and significantly more are intended.
Now the question arises - why have we just dealt with this topic?
We have dealt with it because we have developed a great deal of interest through the research work and want to reach many more people with it. In addition, through our commitment, we want to give the victims a voice that was stolen from them by the Nazi regime. By working with the individual biographies, the subject gets much more depth and the victims become vivid human beings, even if we actually do not know them personally. The Stolpersteine of the victims should serve as a lasting memory for us, but above all for the family members of present and future generations. In addition, a ceremonial placement of Stolpersteine in Hagen took place on December 7, 2018, in which seven more stones were placed. We were allowed to accompany them with our history teacher.
We hope that this project will help young people to realize that what happened then also happened on their own doorstep and that they should not only be confronted with it in the history books. In addition, through a better education on the subject we want to show that especially the present generation has the "task" to make sure that such events don't ever happen again.
It is very important in this day and age to be critical of the media and learn to do your own research. In addition, you should always be able to see the situation first-hand and not be distracted by the opinion of others. It can also be helpful to talk to others about this topic and ask questions.
Finally, we want to share that it is very interesting, exciting and touching at the same time to deal with this sensitive topic. For us the work in the project course is a great enrichment and we are glad to be part of it.
This is an example for a Stolperstein. This one belongs to Heinrich Bohne, who was a resistance fighter in the Nazi era.