Stumbling stones – for scientists who suffered from the atrocities of the NS regime: Georg-Speyer-Haus and Paul-Ehrlich-Institut remember their Jewish members of staff

"Jewish scientists have performed excellent work at our institutes – until, as from 1936, they were no longer allowed to work, had to escape, or were deported", as Professor Florian Greten, Director of the Georg-Speyer-Haus, expressed it. "The stumbling stones remind us permanently of the names and fates, and of the wrong done to them", said Professor Cichutek, president of the Paul-Ehrlich-Institut. The fact that staff members of both institutes donate for the costs of the stumbling stones shows the sympathy which they are expressing while remembering the fate of the Jewish colleagues and their families.

The stones erect a memorial for five Jewish scientists:

• Professor Dr. med. Wilhelm Caspari was one of the most well-known cancer researchers in Germany. While his children escaped to other countries, Professor Caspari and his wife remained in Frankfurt. They were deported to the ghetto of Lodz in 1941 where they died.
• The physician Dr. med. Erwin Stilling was the manager of the library of the institutes. He, too, was deported to Lodz. There is no exact information about his fate. He was declared dead in 1945.
• The two specialists of chemistry, Dr. Hugo Bauer and Dr. Eduard Strauss escaped to the United States with their families after their dismissals and the repressions that followed. Both of them were able to continue their scientific careers.
• Professor Dr. med. Ferdinand Blum, head of the Biologisches Institut (Biological Institute) and famous hormone researcher, escaped to Switzerland in 1939. After the war, he reassumed his position as director at Frankfurt for a short period of time, after which he returned to Zurich.

From left to right: Professor Wilhelm Caspari, Dr. Erwin Stilling, Dr. Hugo Bauer, Dr. Eduard Strauss, Professor Ferdinand Blum. Source: PEI / GSH

The Paul-Ehrlich-Institut and the Georg-Speyer-Haus are joined by a common history – up to 1993, the building of the present-day Georg-Speyer-Haus was the location of both research institutes. With a memorial ceremony and the laying of the stumbling stones, the institutes jointly commemorate their Jewish members of staff. The Biologischer Verein (Biological Association) as the former organization managing the "Biologisches Institut", which was taken over by the Georg-Speyer-House in 1992, supports this action.

In October this year, five additional stones will be put down for the Caspari family before the house of their former residence in the Westend, an area of Frankfurt.

What are stumbling stones?

Stumbling stones (Stolpersteine) are 10 x 10 x 10 cm rectangular concrete blocks with a brass plate anchored on their upper side. The brass plates contain inscriptions of the names and dates of people persecuted during the NS period. Gunter Demnig, artist and initiator of the art project has up to now laid around 400,000 stumbling stones in roughly 800 German cities and municipalities, as well as in Austria, the Netherlands, Hungary, and other countries. For his project, he received the Bundesverdienstkreuz (Federal Cross of Merit) from the Federal President of Germany.

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