Guernsey to get 'stumbling stones' commemorating those deported during the Occupation

Tuesday 02 July 2024

Guernsey Museums is delighted to announce celebrated German artist Gunter Demnig is coming to the island at the end of July to lay 15 Stolpersteine, or 'stumbling stones'.

The Guernsey stones will remember 11 people who died and four who survived Nazi persecution.

These 10cm x 10cm cobblestone-like cubes which can already be found in cities across Europe are engraved brass cap, and inserted into public pavements and roadways in memory of victims and survivors of Nazism. Rather than stumbling over them with your feet - they are flush with the pavement - Gunter says that you 'stumble with your head and your heart'.

The Channel Islands project to install 15 stones in Guernsey and 20 stones in Jersey is being led in Guernsey by Occupation historian Dr Gilly Carr of the University of Cambridge with Helen Glencross from Guernsey Museums and Chris Addy from Jersey Heritage.

The Guernsey Eight, who died in Nazi prisons and camps, as well as the three Jewish women deported from Guernsey who were murdered in Auschwitz, comprise the 11 people who were killed or who died because of their treatment in camps and prisons.

The remaining four stones will remember survivor Frank Falla, a member of GUNS who did so much to fight for those deported for their opposition to the Germans; Vienna-born Elisabet Duquemin, a Jewish woman who came to Guernsey in 1937 and married Henry Duquemin, but was later deported to Compiègne and Biberach internment camps as a British Jew; and Frank Tuck and Kingston Bailey, two of the Guernsey policemen who were deported to Nazi labour and concentration camps but survived with life-altering injuries and PTSD.

Family members of all of those to be honoured with a stone have been contacted, and many hope to travel to see their family members honoured.

Helen Glencross, Head of Heritage Services, said:

"Guernsey Museums is honoured to be part of the Stolpersteine project. Logistically it has been challenging and I am very grateful to all those who have assisted. I hope that the Stolpersteine will raise awareness with islands and visitors about those who were victims and survivors of Nazism during the Second World War.

"It has not been possible to locate families of the three Jewish women killed in Auschwitz but if anyone has any contact with their family members then we would love to hear from you."

Dr Gilly Carr said:

"I'm thrilled to be able to bring Gunter Demnig to the Channel Islands so that victims of Nazism here can be honoured as they are elsewhere on the continent. Stolpersteine are such an effective and moving form of memorial, placed outside the last address of those who were deported. I am proud to be involved in doing this for those who suffered so much during the Occupation."

Gunter Demnig initiated this project in 1992 and there are now more than 100,000 Stolpersteine laid across mainland Europe. Now in his 70s, Gunter no longer handmakes them but he tries to lay as many as he can. The stones are now made by sculptor Michael Friedrichs-Friedlaender. The UK received its first Stolperstein two years ago in memory of a Dutch woman of Jewish heritage, Ada van Dantzig, who was murdered in Auschwitz aged 25. It was laid in London at her place of work.

Gunter is due to visit Guernsey on 26 July to install the stones; anyone who wishes to come and watch the stone-laying is welcome to attend all day as we travel from stone to stone.

The full list of names of those to be honoured with a Stolperstein is below:

Therese Steiner Joseph Gillingham Percy Miller

Auguste Spitz Charles Machon Herbert Smith

Marianne Grunfeld Frank Falla Frank Tuck

Elisabet Duquemin John Ingrouille Kingston Bailey

Sidney Ashcroft Marie Ozanne Louis Symes

The stories of all of these people can be found on frankfallaarchive.org.

The story of Marie Ozanne can be found here: https://www.frankfallaarchive.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/08/Marie-Ozanne-PDF.pdf

The story of Elisabet Duquemin can be found here: https://www.frankfallaarchive.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/06/ILM2020-v1.0-Santos.pdf

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