A Tribute at 16 Wallstrasse

Recently, I had the delightful surprise of receiving an email from Günter Voss, Director of the Senioren Computer Club in Berlin-Mitte.

Mr. Voss has won recognition for his work in bringing older Berliners up-to-speed with digital literacy.

His club meets on Berlin’s Fischerinsel (Fisher Island) in view of 16 Wallstrasse, the building Nazis stole from my grandfather Jakob Intrator.

What Mr. Voss wrote to tell me was that each November 9 — the anniversary of Kristallnacht — and January 27 — which is the anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz as well as International Holocaust Remembrance Day — he and his club make a solemn visit to the memorial plaque placed on 16 Wallstrasse.

This page on the club’s website recounts how the Nazis mass-produced yellow Star of David patches inside my family’s former building, while this page is a reminder of various tragic November 9ths throughout German history.

Each of those pages includes a series of photos from 16 Wallstrasse.

This picture shows members of the club reading the plaque that serves as a memorial of the Nazi persecution of my family.

Then in this photo, members of the club are seen placing flowers on the plaque.


For me to see that Germans are placing flowers on this memorial plaque helps me to have hope for humanity.

To Günter Voss and the members of his club in Berlin-Mitte, I say “Vielen recht herzlichen Dank!” (Many sincere thanks.)

7 Comments

  1. John Atlas on January 21, 2021 at 3:50 am

    What a wonderful story. It gives me hope for humanity too.

  2. Liza Belsik on January 21, 2021 at 9:52 pm

    Joanne, beautiful tribute. What a family history you have. I love that you can see this tribute in memory of your family🌈

  3. Arlene Streisand on January 23, 2021 at 2:20 am

    That’s amazing Joanne!

  4. Alexa Intrator on January 23, 2021 at 5:26 am

    Wonderful wonderful – beautiful gesture, beautiful tribute, beautiful flowers.

  5. Kira Intrator on January 25, 2021 at 3:13 am

    Beautiful Joanne. Thank you for sharing!

    • Lore Stein on April 21, 2021 at 10:38 pm

      I was impressed and heartened by the essay you submitted to the L.B.I. journal recently. I subscribe to the institute because I am also of the same ethnicity as was my late husband, Dr. Ralph Stein, who passed away in 2005. My mother was the sister of Sigmund Stoll and I often met your parents at Sigmund and aunt Martha’s home. I know they were neighbors and good friends. I now live in Florida near my daughter Minna and her family. She is a reproductive endocrinologist and her husband is a gastroenterologist. They have 4 children, 2 in medicine and one a math and physics major at the University of Chicago. Wishing you good luck on your quest for the restitution of your German property. Sincerely, Lore Stein

      • Joanne Intrator on April 22, 2021 at 12:00 pm

        Dear Lore:
        Thank you so much for your kind remarks. To hear about my parents’ dear friends makes me nostalgic. I see that Ralph in addition to being a Veteran was a President of the Queens Pediatric Society, and I am pleased to note that your children did not fall far from the accomplished tree.
        With my very best regards,
        Joanne Intrator

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