Southern Miss Honors College Pays Tribute to Holocaust Victims in Germany
Mon, 08/05/2024 - 11:07am | By: David Tisdale
Hilde Fanny Weinreich. Margaret Herwig. Edith and Max Frensdorff.
These are four of the millions who lost their lives in the tragedy that was the Holocaust, widely considered one of the most horrific crimes against humanity. But with the generosity of students, faculty, staff, and alumni associated with The University of Southern Mississippi (USM) Honors College, these four individuals are now honored through a unique remembrance program conducted in Germany and throughout Europe 鈥� the Stolpersteine Project.
For the past two years, the Southern Miss Honors College has coordinated with the University鈥檚 Study Abroad program to offer an Honors Abroad seminar in Germany for its students, providing experiential learning opportunities by cultural immersion and academic enrichment through examination of the country鈥檚 culture, history, and language. As part of the curriculum, students enrolled in the seminar, Understanding Germany: Then and Now, learn more about the tragic events of WWII and the country鈥檚 role in it under the leadership of Adolf Hitler and his Nazi party, including the murder of millions of Jews and others he and his followers deemed inferior and a threat to what they considered the pure German race.鈥� One of the many sites the study abroad group visits is St. Nikolai church in Hamburg, where they met with members of the parish who are partners with the local Stolpersteine group. Stolpersteine, meaning 鈥渟tumbling stone,鈥� is the title of the commemorative brass plaques created by artist Gunter Demnig to memorialize victims of the Holocaust and which have been and continue to be placed throughout Germany and Europe.
USM sponsored two Stolpersteine in their first study abroad trip to Germany, and the next student group traveling there the following year viewed their placement. Inspired, two more Stolpersteine were sponsored by Southern Miss students. Accompanying USM students on both trips were Dr. Joyce Inman, Dean of the Honors College; Dr. Sabine Heinhorst, Dean Emeritus; and Dr. Andrew Haley, Associate Professor and Director of University Forum.
Dr. Rebecca Boudreaux, a Southern Miss and Honors College alumna who was living and working in Hamburg at the time of the USM group鈥檚 time abroad, connected with them for a daylong visit, sharing her own story of her time at Southern Miss and about her work and life in the city. Together they learned about the Stolpersteine tribute project and the stories of the victims it honors. The USM group then followed their 2023 predecessors鈥� example in contributing toward another set of memorial plaques.鈥�
Although the presentation of the newest Stolpersteine would not be held until later in the summer of this year 鈥� long after the students and faculty had to return to the U.S. 鈥� Dr. Boudreaux, who is president and chief executive officer of the international renewable energy company Oberon Fuels, offered to be on hand for the event in June to represent them and her alma mater.鈥�
鈥淭he Stolpersteine memorial program gives the people we lost in the Holocaust faces, names, helping us understand who they were and what they went through,鈥� Dr. Boudreaux said. 鈥淲e can鈥檛 change what happened to them, but with the placement of these beautiful bronze plaques, they are always remembered.鈥�
Dr. Boudreaux met with one relative of the victims who had long avoided returning to Germany, the trauma still lingering of what had occurred all those decades ago had been too much for her to bear. 鈥淏ut she made the trip for the commemoration,鈥� Dr. Boudreaux recounted, 鈥渁nd the laying of this beautiful stone gave her a connection to the past, helping with the healing process.鈥�
USM Honors College student Erin Wallace of Terrytown, La., was among those who travelled to Germany this year for the honors study abroad program, and enthusiastically supported memorializing the victims with the鈥痠nstallation of two more Stolpersteines.
鈥淔or the remainder of the trip, I hunted for Stolpersteines on the streets of Germany and Amsterdam,鈥� Wallace recounted. 鈥淲hile I loved the project, I did not fully appreciate it until recently. I studied abroad again in Spain, where I found another Stolpersteine while walking in Madrid. I was not searching for it; I just happened to spot it while checking my directions back to my hotel.
鈥淚 stopped to read the inscriptions and remember the person it represented. In that moment, I really understood what the purpose of this project was 鈥� to make people pause their everyday life, even if for just a second, to remember the tragic history of the Holocaust and honor those affected by it. I hope to one day be able to visit the Stolpersteines in Germany that were donated by my class and discover more Stolpersteines in future travels.鈥�
The 2023 Stolpersteine plaques sponsored by Southern Miss Honors College students, faculty and staff honor the following:
Hilde Fanny Weinreich鈥痭茅e Abraham; born 1905, fled to Italy, was interned, and departed in 1944; was murdered in the extermination camp Auschwitz; Stolperstein laid at Harvestehuder Weg 112.鈥�
Margaret Herwig鈥痭茅e Robertson, died in concentration camp Theresienstadt; Stolperstein laid at Hansastra脽e 40; Margaret Herwig has a connection to St. Nikolai church parish through her daughter. As a widowed Jew, Margaret Herwig was being persecuted. Her non-Jewish husband had died already in the year 1920. She was deported to the ghetto Theresienstadt on 7/19/1942 and died there on April 8, 1944. As a so-called 鈥淗alf-Jew,鈥� her daughter Heidi survived the Holocaust in Hamburg in a deaconess house.鈥�
The 2024 Stolpersteine plaques sponsored by Southern Miss Honors College students, faculty and staff honor the following:鈥�
Edith Frensdorff鈥痓orn 1924, fled to Belgium, was interned in the deportation camp, Mechelen, and transported in 1942 to Auschwitz, where she was murdered February 10, 1942.鈥�
Max Frensdorff鈥痓orn 1895, was deported 1941 to the Ghetto in Minsk and was murdered.
鈥淚t has been such an honor to play a small part in the commemoration of these individuals and to ensure that their legacies are not forgotten,鈥� Inman said. 鈥淣ot only did our students benefit academically from their experiences in northern Germany, but they also had the opportunity to contribute to something much bigger than themselves as they learned of the tragic stories of specific victims of the Holocaust. I am so proud to be a part of their Southern Miss journeys and their efforts to make the world a better place.鈥濃��
For information about the Southern Miss Honors College, visit鈥痷sm.edu/honors. Learn more about the .