HANDMADE memorial stones in honour of Islanders who were persecuted, imprisoned or deported during the Occupation have been laid in Jersey.
The Stolpersteine, or “stumble stones”, are cobble stones with an engraved brass cap that are inserted into public pavements and roadways in memory of victims and survivors of Nazism.
Each one is handmade by German artist Gunter Demnig, who initiated the project in 1992.
There are now more than 100,000 Stolpersteine laid across mainland Europe.
A Channel Islands project to install 20 stones in Jersey and a further 15 in Guernsey is being led by Jersey Heritage’s sites curator Chris Addy and Occupation historian Dr Gilly Carr.
Most of the Jersey stones were laid in St Helier on Thursday, while more are due to be installed elsewhere in the Island on Friday.
A spokesperson for Jersey Heritage thanked those who had been involved in the project, including the families of those for whom Stolpersteine are being laid, as well as the Infrastructure Department and the Constables, roads committees and highway teams of St Helier, St Saviour, St Clement, St Brelade and Grouville.
Dr Carr said that the project team was “thrilled and proud” to see the stones laid, while Mr Addy noted that the initiative had received “a lot of support”.
He said: “I’d particularly like to send out an enormous thank you to [civil works manager] Dave O’Brien and his team who have been instrumental in bringing the project to fruition, as well as Scott Vautier of V&V Stonemasons and Builders.”
