Three new Stolperstein to be laid in Banska Bystrica

The international 'Stolperstein' (Stumbling Block) project featuring the placing of commemorative stones into pavements before erstwhile homes of victims of Nazi persecution is set to come to Banská Bystrica for the fourth time this coming weekend. Nine Stolperstein have already been placed in Banská Bystrica. The event at the weekend will commemorate, among others, film director Peter Solan, a native of Banská Bystrica, who as a boy had to flee from Nazi persecution. Author of the project German artist Gunter Demnig will place three 'stumbling blocks' into the pavement at Horna Ulica 23 (Upper Street) on Saturday to pay tribute to members of the family of Gotthilfe, whose tragic fate will be narrated by a historian and witnesses. The Banská Bystrica amphitheatre in the evening will show Solan's film entitled The Boxer and Death (1962), which deals with the theme of the Holocaust. More than 50,000 Stolperstein have already been placed throughout Europe. Nine Slovak towns are home to 49 commemorative stones at the moment.