Minister of Foreign and European Affairs Gordan Grlić Radman attended on Friday as the envoy of the prime minister the reinstalment of the stumbling block (Stolperstein) for chief rabbi Miroslav Šalom Freiberger, organized by the Centre for the Promotion of Tolerance and Holocaust Remembrance, in partnership with the Bet Israel community and the Stiftung-Spuren Foundation.
Addressing the event, Grlić Radman expressed regret that the monument had been damaged, sending a clear message on behalf of the Croatian Government about the importance of preserving the collective memory and paying respects to all victims of the Nazi regime.
The minister underscored that by laying the stumbling blocks we remember the individual victims of the Holocaust and declare that no crime should be relativized and that each victim deserves to be remembered and respected.
Grlić Radman recalled that Croatia’s efforts and commitment to the culture of Holocaust remembrance had been recognized by the international community and that in 2023 Croatia is to chair the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance (IHRA).
The first Croatian Stolperstein was installed in Rijeka in 2013 in the memory of Eugenije and Gianetta Lipschitz. In October 2020, a Stolperstein was installed in Zagreb at 29 Gundulićeva Street in memory of Lea Deutsch, the first of 20 to be installed in Zagreb. The Stolpersteine project, initiated by the German artist Gunter Demnig in 1992, aims to commemorate individual victims of the Holocaust at their last place of residence.