This small metal plate is installed in the sidewalk in the Untere Markstrasse in the town of Bad Kissingen in Germany. It's in front of the house where my great-uncle was living when he was deported to Poland and murdered by the Nazis in 1942.
Thousands of these have been installed around Germany. They're called "Stolpersteine," or "stumble stones."
A story appeared in yesterday's Stuttgart newspaper (note: it's in German) about a couple named the Erbslöhs who are suing the city for installing two such stones in front of their house to commemorate Max and Mathilde Henle, the couple who lived at that address before their deportation to Theresienstadt. The Erbslöhs complain that the stones have decreased the value of their property.
No doubt some interesting questions lurk here about the impact of public memory on private property. I'd be curious to hear people's thoughts.
My own highly personal reaction is to wonder what the German translation of "cry me a river" is.
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