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25 Sep 2026

Launch of the project “Stumbling Stones of Remembrance—Music and Literature Against Forgetting”

In August 2026, the ZfL joined the collaborative project Stumbling Stones of Remembrance—Music and Literature Against Forgetting.

As the generation of Holocaust survivors and eyewitnesses gradually disappears, knowledge of the Holocaust, of the civilizational rupture it represents, and of the history of National Socialism is declining in our society. At the same time, antisemitism, racism, and other forms of discrimination are on the rise.

It is against this backdrop that the project “Stumbling Stones of Remembrance—Music and Literature Against Forgetting” was launched. With the support of experts and, where possible, through conversations with witnesses and their descendants, school students reconstruct the life stories of musicians and writers persecuted during the Nazi era. The students engage closely with these individuals’ work, developing a deeper understanding of their artistic creation and of the specific forms of discrimination and persecution they endured. Guided by journalists, the students will ultimately produce biographical podcasts for broadcast on public-service radio.

This project builds on the successful project “Musikalische Stolpersteine” (Musical Stumbling Stones), which was launched in September 2024 by the Landesmusikrat Berlin in collaboration with musica reanimata e.V., the berlinHistory app, and rbb radio3. It was funded by the Senate Department for Culture and Social Cohesion. The project’s patron is Kai Wegner, the Governing Mayor of Berlin. All podcast episodes released to date are publicly available in the ARD Audio Library. The project won the “Das Rote Tuch” Youth Media Prize and has received attention far beyond Berlin.

With the start of the school year 2026, the “Musical Stumbling Stones” project will expand beyond Berlin and continue with the Landesmusikrat Brandenburg e.V., the Sächsischer Musikrat e.V., the Landesmusikrat Schleswig-Holstein e.V., and the Landeszentrale für politische Bildung Mecklenburg-Vorpommern. In Berlin, the ZfL is an additional partner in the project, helping to expand its focus to literature.

The project “Stumbling Stones of Remembrance—Music and Literature Against Forgetting”” is funded by the German Federal Ministry of Finance (BMF) and implemented by the Foundation Remembrance, Responsibility and Future (EVZ) as part of the “Education Agenda NS-Injustice” funding program.

 

“Antisemitism never considers people as individuals, but always only as part of a collectively rejected group. The ‘Musical Stumbling Stones’ are designed to address this issue directly: Young people experience how musicians—and now also authors—who were persecuted by the Nazis are brought out of anonymity and recognized as human beings. It is good that this idea is now also being adopted in Brandenburg, Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania, Saxony, and Schleswig-Holstein.”
Thomas Krüger, President of the Landesmusikrat Berlin
 
“It fills me with pride that a Berlin project addressing this important topic is now attracting attention beyond Berlin. I am delighted that we can contribute to remembering the crimes of National Socialism in this way.”
Kai Wegner, Governing Mayor of Berlin
 
“With the expansion of the successful ‘Musical Stumbling Stones’ project to the realm of literature and the broadening of the geographic scope to include Brandenburg, Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania, Saxony, and Schleswig-Holstein, the project’s reach is growing. At the ZfL, we are excited to lend an added dimension to the project through literature and the life stories of persecuted authors. By bringing the literature and music of the victims of National Socialism to life, the project makes their voices heard again, especially among young people.”
Eva Geulen, Director of the ZfL
 
“We have closely followed the Berlin project from the very beginning and are deeply impressed by its impact. Bringing it to our state is also activating a broad network here. Together, we are placing music at the center and thereby opening up another avenue for preserving memory.”
Alexandra Ehlers, President of the Landesmusikrat Schleswig-Holstein