Stumbling Stone Hoffmeisterstraße 25

This memorial stone (so called Stolperstein of stumbling block) commemorates:
Alfons Neumann (born 1905, drowned with the Cap Arcona on 3-5-1945). He also fought in the Spanish Civil War.

His personal card states that he is a 'subordinate' factory worker. Another source mentions 'sailor' as a profession.
Due to a shooting incident, he flees to Spain in 1933, where he joins men who want to fight against Franco, the Spanjegangers. Executives there send him back to the Netherlands because of disobedience. He is arrested and sent to Vlieland on December 6, 1938. On Vlieland he was active in the theater group. After his time on Vlieland, he leaves for Neuengamme concentration camp.

The cash book of the Huis van Bewaring in Groningen, where the own money of all prisoners is kept, does not mention him after the entire group of internees is removed from the island. (Source: Groninger Archives) It seems that the Nazis knew very well who were the most dangerous. The group has been split up.

In the week of April 18 to 26, 1945, he was used as a human shield on three ships near Hamburg, along with the other prisoners of Neuengamme. Despite the Swedish government, the English bomb the ships. The British reconnaissance planes must have seen the massive transports of prisoners and the British government wisely keeps the records of the totally misjudged bombing of the three ships closed until 2045. Alfons Neumann is killed along with nearly 10,000 others.
His hometown Remscheid had a "Stolperstein gegen das Vergessen", a stumbling block against forgetting, hit the pavement with his name on it in 2007.

The small brass plaques, in the pavement in front of houses of which the (mostly Jewish) residents were persecuted or murdered by the Nazis, mention the name, date of birth and place (mostly a concentration camp) and date of death.

In many other cities, mainly in Germany but also in other European countries, the memorials also can be found. There are already many thousands of these plaques and their number is still counting. Almost all Stolpersteine are laid by the German artist himself, Gunter Demnig.

For more information and pictures, please visit Stolpersteine Remscheid (in German).

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Source

• Text: Fedor de Vries & Cas Straatman
• Photos: TracesOfWar.com