When strolling in the city centre, it is worth keeping your eyes open and occasionally looking away from the buildings and down at the pavement, because you may notice some interesting stones at your feet.
Cologne-based artist Günter Demnig has been creating and installing such commemorative plaques throughout Europe since the 1990s. The copper plaques are affixed to small concrete blocks, memorializing the names of the victims of the Holocaust, their place and date of birth and the place and date of their death.
The artist places the commemorative plaques in front of the houses that were the last homes of the victims where they lived of their own free will. In 2018, Günter Demnig installed 12 such plaques in 5 locations in Veszprém.
In May 1944, the Jewish population of Veszprém was incarcerated in a ghetto, and on 19 June 1944, they were taken by train to the Auschwitz death camp. These memorial plaques are intended to draw attention to the fact that they did not disappear without a trace. There are now over 70,000 such memorials around the world, each designed to give a moment’s pause and reflection to those passing by, those who remain.
Every year, 50–100 new plaques are installed in Hungary, both at civilian initiatives and with the help of the Hungarian Jewish Cultural Association.
“A person is not forgotten until his or her name is forgotten,” says Günter Demnig. In Veszprém, these symbols preserve their memory: “Éva Benedek, Pál Benedek, Katalin Dőri, Miklós Dőri, Ödönné Dőri born Leonóra Irma Rosenberg, Rabbi Dr. Lajos Kun, Dr. Lajosné Kun born Frida Pap, Dezső Lantos, Dezsőné Lantos born Ilona Kopstein, Anna Lantos, Ármin Pillitz and Árminné Pillitz born Kornélia Münczer.
