Lille. Paving stones laid throughout the month of September, in memory of the victims of the 1942 roundup

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On September 11, three memory blocks were installed at Lille (North), in tribute to three familiesvictims of the September 1942 roundup. “I would twist words if I had to twist them, so that one day children would know who you were.” These words were written over 60 years ago by Jean Ferrat, who stressed the importance of the duty of remembrance.

Even today, this work is more relevant than ever: this is why town halls all over Europe are deciding to lay down “Stolpersteine” (memory stones) in front of former homes of Holocaust victims.

September 11, commemoration day of the great roundup of the North

Although these paving stones were originally to be laid in May, a disagreement between the Lille-Fives 1942 association and the City of Lille required the ceremony to be postponed until September 11, 2024. It is in any case on this precise date, 82 years agoon September 11, 1942, that 500 Jewish people from all over the region are grouped together at the Lille-Fives station dedicated to the transport of goods.

Despite around sixty lives saved thanks to railway workers and nurses, most are deported and exterminated at Auschwitz.

Paving stone laying throughout September 2024

If the first “Stolpersteine” laid in Lille date from May 2023, these are three new families to whom the city has paid tribute, in three different districts, at the initiative of Lille-Fives 1942 and the town hall:

• Abraham Grudki, 73, rue de la Monnaie: At this address lived Abraham and Léa Grudki, as well as their daughter, Renée. On September 11, 1942, the “Feldgendarmerie” (German military force) at their home: Léa and Renée, alone in the apartment, managed to escape and hide until the end of the war. Abraham, alerted, quickly returned to Lille, while he was on a construction site in the Marne. He was arrested on October 3 and deported to Auschwitz on October 24, 1942, from where he would never return. Now, it is possible to see a copper-colored paving stone, embedded in the ground in front of 73, rue de la Monnaie, Abraham Grudki’s last home.
• Jonas and Chaja Radoszycki, 12, Peace Street, Utrecht: At this address, this time two paving stones will be laid in front of the building to pay tribute to Jonas and Chaja Radoszycki. This Polish couple was deported on September 17, 1942 to Auschwitz, where they were murdered. Their three children were, however, saved and hidden in Bailleul, in Flanders.
• Leib, Riwka and Liliane Rozenpik, 30, rue Jacquemars-Giélée: The Rozenpik family, originally from Poland, was deported to Mechelen on September 11, 1942, then to Auschwitz where its members were murdered. Three paving stones were inaugurated in front of their last home.

During the month of September, several ceremonies are planned for the laying of new “Stolpersteine”. On Friday, September 20, it will be at 86, rue Gambetta; 145, rue Gambetta; and 3, rue du Court-Debout. On September 30, the ceremonies will take place at 25, rue de Valmy; 49, rue de Tournai and 133, rue Gustave-Delory.

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