These stones are to be a memorial to the people of Israel forever- Joshua 4:7b
When the children of Israel had crossed over the Jordan River they set up a memorial made of stones. It was to remind them of the way God had led them across the Jordan River to the Promised Land. Joshua told the Israelites that when their children asked them what the stones meant they were to tell them about the difficult journey their ancestors had completed.
In Frankfurt Germany I saw stones that also serve as a memorial. They are called ‘stumbling stones’ and have been created by a German artist named Gunter Demnig. Outside the last known residences of Holocaust victims, Demnig replaces some of the regular sidewalk bricks with gold stones engraved with the names of the people who once lived there. Demnig hopes as pedestrians walk along the sidewalk they will ‘stumble’ over the gold plated stones, look down, read the Holocaust victim’s names and remember the people who died so tragically. One set of five stones I saw in Frankfurt was at the site of the 1940’s residence of the Zuntz family who died in Auschwitz. Two of the sons escaped and live in Israel. They came to Frankfurt to attend the installation of the gold stumbling stones outside their former family home. Demnig began this project on his own, but now many private donors and government agencies are assisting him and you can find his memorial stumbling stones in many European cities.
It is important to remember both positive and negative events in the history of nations, families and individuals, to learn from them and pass those lessons on to future generations.
