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Virtual experience commemorates Holocaust victims and their families

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The Ryerson Library and an MFA Documentary Media student helped create an experience based on remembrance project

A Stolperstein, or stumbling stone, which is a remembrance project by German artist Gunter Demnig. Each stumbling stone contains the names, date of birth, date of deportation, and date of death or destiny of the victims of the Holocaust. They are located at the entrances of buildings that were the last freely chosen home of the individual named on the stumbling stone.

If you walk down certain cobblestone streets in Europe, you might come across a Stolperstein (stumbling stone) at your feet.

The Stolpersteine are commemorative cobblestones that are placed in front of houses that were the last freely chosen homes of people who were victims of the Holocaust – imprisoned, displaced or murdered. German artist Gunter Demnig started the project in 1996 and has so far installed more than 70,000 brass plaques in 21 European countries.

In May 2020, the German Consulate Toronto approached Ryerson Library with the idea to jointly create   a virtual experience based on the Stolpersteine memorials and a year later this creative partnership produced “Stolpersteine: Stories Through Generations.” The project brings the stories of four Canadian families alive through the narrative of audio interviews and private family images.

Read full story in Ryerson Today