Cultural Memory of Wiesbaden

Stumbling Block Ceremony

On this beautiful morning in Wiesbaden, all of us had the wonderful experience of witnessing a stumbling block ceremony organized by our professors with members of a Jewish remembrance museum. A stumbling block is a piece of history, memory, and culture throughout the country of Germany. We'd come across these all over the city of Wiesbaden and continuously on our travels from Leipzig to Berlin. For this family that was honored, we had the true honor of being present for this occasion. The Jewish family members being honored included Henriette Seligmann-Scheier (1879-1942) and Siegfried Seligmann (1881-?). We listened to a story about their lives together and how they were eventually separated during the war. At the time, Nazi authorities forced Jewish families to vacate their homes and move to so called "Judenhauser" living with limited resources. This is what happened to Henriette and Siegried Seligmann. They moved to Lortzing Strabe 7 from where they were deported to Lublin/Poland on 10th June, 1942. Learning about this couple was extremely enlightening for all of us and enhanced the true cultural significance of more detailed components of Germany's history.