Berlin is covered in “Stolpersteine” (‘stumbling stones’) – small stones in front of houses where victims of the holocaust once lived. These stones are modest in detail, but pack an emotional punch.
This Stolperstein, which Google Maps says lies only 260m from my front door, tells the story of Fritz Abraham Tobias.
Fritz was born on September 13th 1895 in Würzen, Saxony, and when he was 17 he moved to Berlin (where both his parents hailed from). After he finished school, Fritz completed an apprenticeship in chemical purification and he became a ‘Färber’ (lit. a ‘Dyer’). He married Charlotte Rudolph (who was Protestant) and lived with her in a third-floor flat on Justusstraße 18-19, which in 1938 was renamed to Ritterlandweg 40 (the name the address still holds today). Fritz was arrested by the Gestapo on the 5th of December 1942 and was deported to Auschwitz where he was interned as a political prisoner. On the 5th of March 1943 he was murdered.
Fritz’s death certificate listed his place of death as being on ‘Kasernenstraße’.
There was no such street in Auschwitz.
“Kasernenstraße” was listed on all Auschwitz death certificates to hide the fact that inmates were dying in a concentration camp.
Fritz’s widow Charlotte continued to live in the flat on Ritterlandweg until her death in 1956.
For Fritz’s complete story (in German), visit his entry on the Stolpersteine homepage.
(this is a repost from Instagram from March 17th, 2024)