As Long as a Name is Mentioned, Someone is Not Forgotten

“As long as a name is mentioned, someone is not forgotten,” meaning if you mention the name of one person, that person is remembered. I know it sounds quite obvious, but when you think about it for a minute, it is the essential first step to ensure that the Holocaust will not happen again.

I will be mentioning more than one name, I will be mentioning all the names of the Jews of Heerlen who were murdered in the Holocaust. To give a context to it, Heerlen is a city in the province of Limburg in the Netherlands. It is only a stone’s throw away from Germany, and it is also very near to my home town of Geleen. I would have often visited Heerlen. I also have family living there.

On 5 May 1998, a monument was revealed in Heerlen to remember all the Jewish victims of the Holocaust, who were from Heerlen or who had lived there.

The text on the monument says

“BECAUSE THEY WERE JEWISH
THESE CITIZENS FROM HEERLEN WERE CARRIED AWAY
THEY DID NOT RETURN”

The names.

SILVIN BONEM AUSCHWITZ 1942
ELLA BONEM-ISRAEL AUSCHWITZ 1942
FRITZ BONEM AUSCHWITZ 1942
LOTTE CANTER 1945
ALEXANDER DÖLLEFELD SOBIBOR 1943
RECHA DÖLLEFELD-ROTHSCHILD SOBIBOR 1943
MICHAEL DZIUBALTOWSKI AUSCHWITZ 1943
SIMA DZIUBALTOWSKI-MYLISBORSKI AUSCHWITZ 1942
JULIAN DZIUBALTOWKSI AUSCHWITZ 1942
LODEWIJK FOIJER SOBIBOR 1943
LIBA GERSZONOWICZ-JAKUBOWICZ AUSCHWITZ 1942
FRYMETA GERSZONOWICZ AUSCHWITZ 1942
GERTRUD GERSZONOWICZ AUSCHWITZ 1942
WOLF GINSBERG AUSCHWITZ 1942
NAPHALTI GINSBERG ORANIENBURG 1942
CHIL HENDLICH AUSCHITZ 1943
SURE HENDLICH-GLICKSMANN AUSCHWITZ 1943
PAUL HENDLICH 1944
BERTA HENDLICH SOBIBOR 1943
FRIEDA HENDLICH AUSCHWITZ 1943
RUTH HENDLICH AUSCHWITZ 1943
MARIANNE HENDLICHT AUSCHWITZ 1943
ARNOLD JACOBS 1945
MARCEL KOSTEN SOBIBOR 1943
SIGISMOND KONSTEN SOBIBOR 1943
BLANDINA KOSTEN-CAHN AUSCHWITZ 1942
LOUIS VAN LEEUWEN SOBIBOR 1943
BETSIE VAN LEEUWEN-SONS SOBIBOR 1943
HENRIËTTE VAN LEEUWEN SOBIBOR 1943

FISCHEL MÜNZ AUSCHWITZ 1942
HENY MÜNZ-ROSENTHALER AUSCHWITZ 1942
HILDE MÜNZ AUSCHWITZ 1942
SIMON PHILIPS MONOWITZ 1944
HENRIËTTE PHILIPS-SAJET AUSCHWITZ 1944
SOPHIA PHILIPS AUSCHWITZ 1944
JONAS SCHLEIER 1944
JOSEPHINE SCHLEIER-MAYSTER AUSCHWITZ 1942
EDITH SCHLEIER AUSCHWITZ 1942
HERMANN SCHÖNTHAL SOBIBOR 1943
COLTHILDE SCHÖNTHAL-FÜRST SOBIBOR 1943
SIEGMUND SCHÖNTHAL AUSCHWITZ 1944
RIKA SCHÖNTHAL-JACOBSON AUSCHWITZ 1944
ROSA SCHÖNTHAL AUSCHWITZ 1944
CLOTHILDE SCHÖNTHAL AUSCHWITZ 1944
CHARLOTTE SCHÖNTHAL AUSCHWITZ 1943
NAFTALI SILBERMANN AUSCHWITZ 1942
RIJKA SILBERMANN-LIEBERMAN AUSCHWITZ 1942
DEBORA SILBERMANN AUSCHWITZ 1942
BERTHA STEINHARDT-SCHLOSSMANN SOBIBOR 1943
SIEGBERT STEINHARDT UBBERGEN 1942
ELISABETH STIBBE MEIJERS AUSCHWITZ 1944
JACQUES VLEESCHDRAGER 1943
JEANETTE VLEESCHDRAGER-VELDMAN SOBIBOR 1943
HERSZ WEISS BERGEN-BELSEN 1945
ANNA WEISS-ROSENBERG BERGEN-BELSEN 1945
ROSA WEISS AUSCHWITZ 1943
ISAAK WEISS SOBIBOR 1943
JOSEPH WEISS WEIMAR 1945