Back in April 2023, I traveled to Vienna, Austria for a work trip.
After arriving, I walked across the city to shake off my jet lag and wandered through the stunning architecture and beautiful cityscape of the Austrian capital.
I made my way to the Aurgarten to see the surviving flak towers, the massive concrete structures used by the Nazi forces in the city to defend against Allied air raids during World War II.
As I walked through the Leopoldstadt neighborhood on my way back toward the center of the city, I looked down and spied some markers embedded in the street. I was a few blocks from the Danube Canal, in a residential neighborhood.
I didn’t know it yet, but I had encountered my first Stolpersteine – “stumbling stones” – that are used to commemorate the victims of Nazi persecution. More than 100,000 of these memorial plates exist across Europe and more are being placed every year.
Here’s the translation:
In Memory of 57 Jewish women, and men, and one child who lived in cramped conditions in shared apartments in this building before they were deported and murdered by the Nazis.
Representing the Many
Josefine Vogelhuth
[Born] April 11, 1875
Deported to Theresienstadt on August 20, 1942
Murdered on January 30, 1944
Else Adler
[Born] December 24, 1884
Deported to Maly Trostinec on August 17, 1942
Murdered on August 21, 1942
Samuel Adler
[Born] January 30, 1857
Deported to Theresienstadt on August 13, 1942
Murdered on December 20, 1942”
Theresienstadt was a “model” concentration camp that was often used by the Nazis for propaganda purposes to show what conditions looked like for those deported “to the East” during World War II. More than 33,000 people died in the camp. More than 140,000 others were transported from the camp to other locations around Europe – more than 60% died.
Maly Trostinec, or Maly Trostinets, was a village in modern-day Belarus near Minsk where an estimated 200,000 people were shot or gassed between 1942 and 1944.
I’m remembering them and the millions of Jewish people and those from other minority groups across Europe who fell victims to Nazi barbarism and genocide.
Never again means we must never forget.
This post originally appeared as a personal Facebook post on International Holocaust Remembrance Day – January 27, 2026
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I’m originally from Berks County- just over the mountain from you. My 5x greatgrandfather settled in what is now downtown Cressona in the 1760’s. The next generation moved to Berks County, near Shartlesville.
I was in Germany 2 weeks ago and saw many of the “stumbling stones”. It was a very humbling experience.