Would you like to found a memorial stone in Sobibór?

In the Sobibór extermination camp, 180,000 Jewish men and women were killed by the German National Socialists between 1942 and 1943. In 2003, the memorial avenue was inaugurated in the former camp. Each tree with a stone in front of it, placed along the avenue, commemorated one person murdered in Sobibór. New trees and stones were added every year and in total there are more than 300 of them. A printed plaque on each memorial stone informs about the name and place of birth of the commemorated person. This way, some of the victims were torn from anonymity. The fate of individuals, who were part of an unimaginably large number of nameless victims, was highlighted.

In 2017 the redesign of Sobibór memorial has begun, which also affected the memorial avenue. During the works, the Majdanek State Museum, to which the Sobibór Memorial is subordinate, temporarily suspended the addition of new commemorative stones. For a long time it was unclear whether the memorial avenue would remain part of the redesigned site. After years of waiting on hold, a decision was finally made: The memorial avenue – with its trees and stones – will be dismantled, but the commemorative stones will remain and will be moved to a new location after the works are done. And once the renovation of the memorial is completed, new stones can be added. The redesign is currently still ongoing. Even during the temporary suspension, 70 commemorative stones were founded by Dutchmen and 52 by Germans. Additionally, the costs of 33 commemorative stones for Polish Jewish men and women murdered in Sobibór, were beared. A total of 155 new commemorative stones are now waiting to be put in Sobibór. It is still unclear when this will be possible.

If you are interested in becoming a founder of a commemorative stone in memory of a woman, a man, a child or a family, there are two possibilities. You can found a stone now, however we are not able to precise when it can become part of the memorial, or you can signal your interest and we will inform you promptly when the stones can be added again.

Write to: Annett Gerhardt, gerhardt@bildungswerk-ks.de