Meet Aaron and Meghan - scuba diving, traveling, and recovering expats! They just moved back from Germany, where they lived and worked for two years and are now making their home in the great state of Texas, quite a change for these northerners! Follow along as they dive and travel all over the world.
On one of the last weekends in June, we realized we needed to head out of Mannheim for a bit. Last minute planning, and sky high travel prices in Europe during the summer meant that we were looking to go somewhere within driving distance. We ended up choosing Trier on the Moselle River, a small city very close to the German border with Luxembourg. For only a two hour drive from Mannheim, it was a nice city escape.
Read MoreI'm a sucker for history and hidden things in a city. We like to see the big sights, but we also take great joy in exploring the lesser known parts of cities when we travel. One of the things I really wanted to do with our time in Paris was make a visit to the catacombs. While not secret by any means, climbing underground for a few hours, exploring tunnels bored hundreds of years ago and now filled with bones, definitely has the air of feeling secret, hidden, and definitely eerie (what can be more hidden than something underground with limited access?!). The catacombs were the first stop of many on our days of sightseeing in Paris.
Read MoreThis past weekend we took a quick overnight getaway to the famous German town of Rothenburg ob der Tauber. It is probably one of the most popular and quaint German towns you will ever see, and for good reason. This small walled city is oozing with medieval charm. From the half timbered houses, to the uneven cobbled stone streets, to the ancient walls that surround this city, there is so much to explore. Around every corner is a new sight or alley to explore, but I think the best way to experience Rothenburg is to spend the night there.
Read MoreIf you've been to just about any major city in central Europe, you've probably seen them. They are small, inconspicuous little brass plates placed in the sidewalks. You can easily walk over them and never have any idea what they are. We did it for months. I imagine that many of them in more well-walked parts of cities are no longer legible. Sometimes it's just one replacing an older cobble stone. Sometimes there are more, I've once seen 4 grouped together. So what are these Stolperstein and why devote an entire post to them?
These Stolperstein, German for stumbling stone, are one of the most subtle, but largest, memorials in Europe. Each one starts with ''Here lived'' and then lists a name. Usually a birth date is given. If known, two other dates are also listed: a deportation date and a murder date. In rare cases, the individual was able to escape to another country, in which case, an emigration date is given. These little brass plates, sitting flush with the pavement, easy to miss as you walk past, list the names of victims of the Holocaust. They name not only Jews, but also the Roma, Santi, Jehovah's Witness, homosexuals, those who were euthanized - many of which suffered from some sort of mental illness - and those who disagreed with National Socialism. A stolperstein is always placed at the victim's last known residence of choice. It is a symbolic and meaningful way to bring the person back to their last, freely chosen, place they lived - their home. They are a memorial so that those who suffered and lost their lives, are not forgotten. One person. One stone.
Atolperstein for a married couple deported in 1942 from Assen, the Netherlands, first to Westerbork and then to Auschwitz, where they were later murdered. Image courtesy of Sarah Huggard Photography
The project was first proposed by Gunter Demnig in 1993. By 1995, the first stones were laid in Cologne (250) and Berlin (55). Today, there are over 48,000 Stolperstein in over 1000 locations within Germany and 17 other countries. Each and every one is handmade. While 48,000 of these little reminders seem like a lot, with over 6 million Holocaust victims, this is less than 1% of all those that lost their lives.
Next time you are walking along, and a golden glint catches your eye, stop. Take a look. Take a moment to remember, and perhaps even say a prayer for, not only the person whose name is on the plate, but all victims. Indeed, it is in remembering them that we have the power to stop it from ever happening again.
For more information on the Stolperstein project, visit the official website. Here, you can also submit information for a Stolperstein, or make a donation to help place more.
One person. One stone. One fate.
A family DEPORTED between 1943 and 1943 to Westerbork from Assen, the Netherlands. THey were all eventually murdered in Auschwitz. It's heartbreaking to see couples, and entire FAMILIES, murdered on the same day, likely the day they arrived at the concentration camp. IMAGE COURTESY OF SARAH HUGGARD PHOTOGRAPHY
''Here lived Lore Stern Born Adler year 1923. Deported 1940. Interned Riversaltes (in France). freed/Survived.''
Two parents and their child deported from Assen, the Netherlands, to Westerbork. They were all murdered in Auschwitz. Their son survived two years longer than his parents, but was only 12 years old when he was killed. IMAGE COURTESY OF SARAH HUGGARD PHOTOGRAPHY
Eugene and Rosa Dreifuss, along with their son Bernhard, fled to France before being deported in 1943. Eugene and Rosa were murdered in Auschwitz, bernhard was murdered in Majdanek.
These show two parents deport to Westerbork in 1942, their three children were deported two years later in 1944. All were sent to Auschwitz where they were murdered. The Right stolperstein is for a 22 year old woman deported in 1942, first to Westerbork and then Auschwitz, where she as murdered. IMAGE COURTESY OF SARAH HUGGARD PHOTOGRAPHY
Thank you to Sara Huggard of Sara Huggard Photography for letting me use images of Stolpersteine she took in Assen, The Netherlands.
Perhaps one of the most famous historic residents of Amsterdam is Anne Frank. Nearly every school aged child in the States reads the diary she kept during the war years. Originally published by her father, Otto Frank, in 1947, her diary has since been translated into 67 languages and sold more than 30 million copies world wide. She has become the voice for so many of those that did not have a voice.
Read Moreust outside of Luxembourg city is the Luxembourg American Cemetery and Memorial. Aaron and I made sure to stop here on our way home. It was established on December 29, 1944 by the 609th Quartermaster Company of the US Army when American troops began burying those lost in battle. Today, over 5,000 service men and women have the cemetery as their final resting place. In 1951, the land on which the cemetery rest was signed over to the US for their use in perpetuity.
Read MoreWithin the walls of the Heidelberg Castle is an Apothecary Museum. So, obviously, being the lover of museums that I am (and really cool doors, but that's another story for another day), I insisted that we go in. We breezed through it pretty quickly. There were quite a few people and I didn't spend a lot of time reading the little information ....
Read MoreIn the summer of 2014, the Oaks' packed up their life and moved to Mannheim, Germany. Now they live in Texas! Follow along as this former expat couple travels the world with the two girls, doing some scuba diving along the way!
Welcome! We're Aaron and Meghan. This is a place where we blog about our travels, scuba diving, our experience living as expats in Germany, and now what it's like to be repats in Texas. Please join us on our journey!
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