On 20 March 2018, an icy cold day, 2 Stolpersteine were laid in memory of Max Jakobsthal and his mother Karoline Jakobsthal at Strausberger Straße 29 in the Herzfelde district.
A moving memorial service accompanied the laying of the stones by the artist and initiator of the Stolpersteine project, Günter Demnig.
The welcome and introductory words were given by the local councillor Gesa Soballa and Angelika Schickert from the Herzfelder Heimatverein e.V. Mayor André Schaller then addressed those present. He gave the floor to Liesel Becker, the niece of Max Jakobsthal and applicant for the Stolpersteine.
She talked about the events that the Jakobsthal family experienced and how she came to terms with her own family history. Max Jakosthal died in Sachsenhausen concentration camp and his mother Karoline Jakobsthal died in Theresienstadt concentration camp.
Mrs Becker also reported on her trip to Yad Vashem and the impetus for the application. Meanwhile, she showed a picture of Max Jakobsthal and a postcard he wrote from Sachsenhausen concentration camp. Dimitri Silbermann discovered this postcard at a flea market and then contacted Mrs Becker. This was followed by the application for the Stumbling Stones, which Mrs Becker sees as a sign of remembrance.
Mrs Larissa Bargtel, Chairwoman of the Jewish Community Frankfurt/Oder e.V., and Pastor Michael Uecker then took the floor. Their speeches were followed by a minute's silence.
Mr Demnig also spoke and reported on the Stumbling Stones project, which is intended to commemorate the fate of the persecuted and murdered victims of National Socialism.
The Rüdersdorf mountain band provided the musical accompaniment to the memorial service. 2 pupils from the Friedrich-Anton-von-Heinitz-Gymnasium read out several texts on the subject, for example an excerpt from the memoirs of Dr Oskar Moos. A list of names of Jews deported from Rüdersdorf and those who chose suicide to avoid deportation was also read out.
In his closing remarks, Mr Schaller thanked all those involved and present for their commitment and participation. There was then the opportunity for further discussions in the nearby vicarage.