What are they
Stolpersteine — "stumbling stones" — are a European memorial project to keep alive the memory of all those deported to Nazi concentration and extermination camps who never returned home. Each is a small square block covered with a brass plate engraved with the name of the deportee, their date of birth, the place of deportation, the date and camp of their death, and from 2026 also the reason for their deportation (political, religious…).
The stone is laid in the pavement in front of the door of the last home where a deportee to the Nazi camps resided.
What do they mean
They are "stumbling" stones because their highly visible appearance on the pavement and their simple information aim to prompt passers-by to ask what that shining block is and who is the man or woman briefly commemorated. They also seek to symbolically bring the deportee back home — that place of daily and family life from which they were taken away more than eighty years ago.
How many have been laid
In Europe, since 1995, more than 110,000 have already been installed. The Stolpersteine are a creation of the artist Gunter Demnig.
As documented by the research of Giuseppe Valota, for many years President of the ANED section of Sesto San Giovanni – Monza, 573 workers from our factories were arrested by the Nazi-fascists and sent to the extermination camps; 233 did not return, of whom 140 were citizens of Sesto. The stones are dedicated to them, to those who did not survive the terrible experience of the lager.
Since 2023, ANED Sesto – Monza has begun laying stones across the territory of Sesto San Giovanni, while stones had already been placed throughout the Monza area and the surrounding municipalities for some years before, and the project will continue until all citizens of our territories have been commemorated.
What is ANED
ANED is the association of survivors of Nazi extermination, relatives of deportees, and all those who, by declaring their acceptance of the values of the struggle against Nazism and Fascism, of the Liberation War and of the Constitution, commit to pursuing the Association's aims. Our section of Sesto San Giovanni – Monza encompasses the cities and towns of a vast territory stretching from the City of Sesto San Giovanni to the entire territory of Monza and Brianza.
Our section was founded in the early 1950s and is located today at Via dei Giardini 14, Sesto San Giovanni.