Stumbling blocks commemorate individual victims of the Nazi regime, stumbling blocks a large number of them. Since Tuesday there has been a stumbling block for 290 victims of Nazi euthanasia in Schwerin.
Schwerin (dpa/mv) - A stumbling block has been a reminder of 290 victims of the Nazi euthanasia program in Schwerin since Tuesday. The Cologne action artist Gunter Demnig let the plaque into the sidewalk in front of the entrance of the former Sachsenberg-Lewenberg sanatorium and nursing home.
Stumbling blocks commemorate individual victims of the Nazi regime, stumbling blocks a large number of them. According to the state center for political education in MV, the Sachsenberg-Lewenberg sanatorium and nursing home was one of the central locations of the National Socialist medical crimes in the north-east. Between 1939 and 1945, numerous patients were brought to Schwerin and murdered - at least 1,900 people fell victim to Nazi euthanasia.
According to the city administration, Demnig has laid stumbling blocks in Schwerin for the eighth time. They are let into the sidewalk in front of the victim's last self-chosen place of residence. In addition to three stumbling blocks for Jewish people, a stumbling block for a homosexual victim of the Nazi regime was laid for the first time on Tuesday. The stone commemorates Paul Junker, until 1938 manager of a large department store in the city. As a gay man, he was arrested and convicted in January 1939, according to the city. He died in custody on January 28, 1939.
According to the information, 82 stumbling blocks have been laid in Schwerin so far. Europe-wide there are 75,000.
