before the installation, a long research work on the victims of Nazism

Stumble on a sidewalk and discover a small brass plaque engraved in memory of a victim of Nazism. This is the whole meaning of Stolpersteine’s pose first in Germany and France since 2015. Upstream, historians and descendants do a lot of research work, which is essential.

A name, a date of birth, deportation and murder. This lapidary information is engraved in the brass of the obstacles [pavés qui font trébucher, traduction littérale, ndlr], the pebbles from the memory of the German artist Gunter Demnig. In Germany, the first pebble was laid in 1992, in France in 2015. Currently, more than 90,000 memory pebbles are embedded in the terrain of European cities, “the largest decentralized memorial in Europe“.

Traditionally, around 9 and 10 November (in memory of crystal nightpogroms against the Jews of 1938), passers-by are invited to polish the Stolpersteine. Some even put a candle or flower on the ground, only to trip passersby a little more on those days.

It was Christophe Woehrle who initiated the installation of the Stolpersteine ​​in France. The bilingual history-geography teacher at Stockfeld College in Strasbourg is also a volunteer historian and works many hours each week on the research needed to put together a dossier for laying a memory floor.

After working for many years in the potash mines of Alsace, he resumed his studies at the age of 40 years and finds himself on the benches of the University of Bamberg (Bavaria) in Germany. It was in this city that he met Gunter Demnig, on the occasion of the installation of a Stolperstein. He then participated in the laying of a first paving stone for a French in Germany in 2012: Bernard Delachaux, a prisoner of war executed in 1942 in Bamberg.

He then decided to start laying pebbles from memory in France. The first ones were installed in 2015 in the Bordeaux region, then in Bordeaux in 2019 “.It was strategicexplains the historian. “Bordeaux being twinned with Munich, we wanted to put pressure on the municipality of Munich. But it didn’t work and there is still no Stolperstein in Munich. A former deportee opposes the project and the city hall rejects any request.. “

Lay these 10 small pebbles cm by 10 in brass are subject to municipal authorization, as they are in the public domain. Some cities systematically refuse any request, such as Munich and Paris, even if the victims of Nazism are very numerous, but the moral weight of some personalities is also of great importance.

A first pebble was deposited in Paris in 2022, only on private property. It concerns flooring in memory of Victor Perahia, survived the fields and present during the installation in the cymatium of the Perahia gallery, rue Dauphine in Paris. Others should follow, always in the private domain.

In Alsace, the city of Mulhouse is more vague in its waste: it ignores any request without even sending an explanatory letter.

Christophe Woehrle does not want to enter the controversy. Walking on the names of the victims or not (which bothers some survivors), remembering specific names or making impressive memorials. He does this meticulous job “to close the files“And if a family objects, respect their decision.

When contacted by descendants or by a municipality to lay memory plates, he always proceeds in the same way: “I carry out a pre-search to establish a list of the victims of Nazism: Jews, homosexuals, gypsies, political opponents, except the Despite us“.

Then he goes to the military archives to get each person’s records. These are the historical defense services present almost everywhere on French territory (often Caen, Paris, Limoges or Pierrefitte-sur-Seine).

What is surprising is that there are no information centers or archives in Alsace. […] to defend history, you must first know it.

Christophe Woehrle

“What is surprising is that there are no information centers or archives in Alsace“asks Christophe Woehrle.”This was supposed to be the first focus of the Alsace-Moselle memorial, but in the end it will be just a wall of names. I asked for a meeting with the president of the European Community of Alsace, Frédéric Bierry, I’m still waiting “.

“But we will not solve the problem of Despite us and the victims of Nazism without doing things here, in Alsace. To defend history, we must first know it.. “

“I realized when I started my research that some deportees had not gotten the mention ‘died for France ‘. However, every French Jew who died during deportation is entitled to it. Sometimes there are no more survivors and no one has applied. So I started doing this job: getting all the mentions for each deceased“.

Christophe Woehrle dedicated himself to this task. He received 256 mentions people, of which 220 Jews. Every time he kidnaps the public prosecutor of the last place of residence, then intervenes with theNational Office for Veterans and War Victims.

“How did I pass this mention ‘died for France ‘then I legally become ‘la person who has an interest in actingand I can therefore make requests for the installation of Stolpersteine ​​to the municipalities“.

For the Wertheimer family, this is how they also included the mention “died for France” in the file. Liliane and her brother Gilbert (10 and 13 years old) were arrested with their mother Marguerite, father Alfred and paternal aunt Jeanne on the 11th. March 1944 in Moussey (88) after fleeing their home in Ottrott (67). They were interned in Ecrouves then in Drancy and finally deported to Auschwitz, where they were assassinated upon their arrival on April 18, 1944.

“For each dossier, I systematically check that the victims have all the mentions they are entitled to. Liliane and Gilbert didn’t get the mention ‘died for France ‘, it has now been done since January 2022“, Explains Christophe Woehrle.

On April 16, 2022, 84 years after their assassination in Auschwitz, almost today, the memorial plates were laid in rue des sapins, not far from the last address of the Wertheimers before their expulsion from Ottrott because they were Jews. ,.

Their house was destroyed, so another address was chosen on the same street so that the cobblestones were visible. And that the names of the five members of this decimated family remain in the memory of passersby who stumble.