Speech by Ilan Kidron at the unveiling of Stolpersteine in honour of the Krammer families, July 20, 2018.
First of all, I would like to thank all those who came to this ceremony - families, organizers, the Zwolle Municipality, the Jewish community, the Matman family, honored guests.
We are indeed in a unique and emotional setting: I am standing here, in this synagogue of my grandfather and grandmother, uncles and cousins, family and acquaintances - a whole Jewish community whom I never knew - none of us ever knew.
Their names are engraved here on stone in the wall beside me, to remind us of everything that happened, in memory of my family and many other glorious families, the majority of whom were massacred in that terrible Holocaust.
The names written here beside me, on this wall, have accompanied me, and will continue to do so, to my dying day.
I am standing here today as one more representative of the glorious Krammer family, the majority of whom were annihilated in the Holocaust. I am so moved by the situation, I am trying to imagine in my mind and spirit every one of the family members sitting or standing here, each in his or her appointed place, sending a prayer to the Creator for a good and healthy life, a life of hope and fulfillment.
It is hard to imagine how they felt on their last journey, in the last days and minutes of their lives, what they thought, felt and dreamed, what they saw, what they wanted, what they knew and did not know, what they did or did not tell each other and what they shared or did not share. They certainly never dreamed that we, the next generation, would stand here today, reciting the Kaddish prayer loudly and confidently, in this synagogue, in their memory, to speed their souls to heaven, perhaps for the first time since they left this world.
Indeed, a very moving situation.
I would like to devote a few words to the Matman family - those who saved my mother's family - Ap and Hanki Matman, both adults and children, who continued their good work - [perhaps you wouldn't mind standing up] Hanny and Gertrude, Tinke, Ono, Wilma - for three years of hardship and uncertainty, but with great hope and dreams. It is hard to tell, but without the great help of those dedicated and caring people, Ap and Hanki, we would probably not be standing here today…..
Thank you again
Ilan Kidron