Stolperstein for Herbert Budzislawski in Berlin

At Große Hamburger Straße 15/16 in Berlin, a small brass plaque embedded in the pavement commemorates the life of Herbert Budzislawski. This Stolperstein, or 'stumbling stone,' marks the last known residence of a young German-Jewish resistance fighter who was executed by the Nazi regime at the age of 22.

Early Life and Persecution

Herbert Budzislawski was born in Berlin on December 30, 1920, to a liberal Jewish merchant family. After his father's death when he was 11, his life was profoundly altered by the Nazi rise to power in 1933. Antisemitic laws forced him to leave school early, leading him to train as a metalworker and later a construction laborer. He was active in Jewish youth organizations like the 'Jüdische Jugendschar' and celebrated his Bar Mitzvah in 1933 at the New Synagogue on Oranienburger Straße. He and his mother, who worked as a poulterer, eventually moved to the address at Große Hamburger Straße.

Resistance, Arrest, and Execution

Budzislawski came into contact with the Herbert Baum group, a communist-leaning Jewish resistance organization, and shared their political convictions. His situation was made even more dangerous by the fact that he was openly gay, which was criminalized under Paragraph 175 of the German Penal Code. The Gestapo placed him under surveillance as early as 1938 for 'communist machinations' and 'homosexual violations of morality,' though he avoided punishment at that time by vehemently denying the charges.

The escalating discrimination, the deportation of his mother in 1942, and his prior experiences with the Gestapo contributed to his radicalization. On May 18, 1942, he participated in an arson attack on the anti-Soviet propaganda exhibition 'Das Sowjetparadies' in Berlin's Lustgarten. After a period in hiding, he was arrested. In June 1943, the Volksgerichtshof (People's Court) sentenced him to death for high treason. His plea for clemency, in which he cited his father's wish for him to consider Germany his homeland, was denied. Herbert Budzislawski was executed in Plötzensee Prison on September 7, 1943.

The Stolperstein Memorial

The Stolperstein for Herbert Budzislawski was laid on June 3, 2004, as part of a project initiated by artist Gunter Demnig in 1992. These 10x10 cm brass-plated blocks are installed at the last voluntarily chosen homes of victims of Nazi persecution, creating the world's largest decentralized memorial. The concept is to make passersby figuratively 'stumble' upon the history of individuals who lived in their neighborhoods. The project serves as a powerful counterpoint to abstract memorials, restoring names and personal stories to the public sphere and ensuring that victims like Herbert Budzislawski are remembered as individuals.