Stolperstein dedicated to Eva Sobel

The Stolperstein dedicated to Eva Sobel is a small brass memorial stone set into the pavement at Orlí 20 in the centre of Brno. It commemorates a Jewish girl murdered in 1942 during the Holocaust and forms part of the international Stolpersteine project, known in Czech as "Kameny zmizelých" (Stones of the Disappeared).

Who was Eva Sobel?

Eva Sobel was born on 6 October 1928 in Děčín, a town in northern Bohemia. Her father, Dr Emil Sobel, worked as a lawyer, and her mother was Nelly Sobel. The family eventually settled in Brno, at what is today Orlí 20 — the address from which Eva and her parents were deported by the German occupation authorities.

What happened to her during the Holocaust?

On 27 July 1942, at the age of thirteen, Eva was deported on a transport designated AAu to the Theresienstadt ghetto (Terezín). Less than a month later, on 25 August 1942, she was put on a further transport, designated Bc, to the Maly Trostenets extermination site near Minsk, in present-day Belarus. There, together with her parents, she was murdered before the end of 1942. Maly Trostenets was one of the largest killing sites for Jews deported from the German Reich and the Protectorate of Bohemia and Moravia — most transports arriving there were sent straight to mass shooting or gassing, with no selection for camp labour.

What is a Stolperstein, and why is it here?

Stolpersteine are small, square cobblestone-sized blocks topped with a brass plate, which German artist Gunter Demnig has been setting into pavements across European cities since the 1990s. Each stone is placed in front of the last home a victim freely chose to live in before falling prey to Nazi persecution — the idea being that passers-by "stumble" upon their memory during an ordinary walk through the city. In Brno, a local association coordinates the laying of these stones, and the one dedicated to Eva Sobel was unveiled in October 2012, during one of the city's successive rounds of Stolperstein installations. Following the project's standard format, the inscription gives the person's name, year of birth, and details of their deportation and place of death.

How many such stones are there in Brno?

Brno is among the Czech cities with the largest number of Stolpersteine — around two hundred have been laid there so far, commemorating residents of Jewish origin who were murdered, deported, or driven to suicide by the Nazi regime. Eva Sobel's stone is one of them and stands alone at Orlí 20; available sources do not record separate Stolpersteine for her parents at this address, even though they shared their daughter's fate.

What is it like to visit?

The stone lies in the pavement in the heart of Brno, on Orlí street, right along the main pedestrian routes connecting Náměstí Svobody with the area around Zelný trh. Visiting requires no preparation at all — simply slow down and look at the ground. It is worth pausing to read the inscription, and if the brass has tarnished, gently polishing it is a customary way of showing respect within this memorial initiative.

Frequently asked questions

Where exactly is the Eva Sobel Stolperstein located? In the pavement at Orlí 20, in the centre of Brno.

Who was Eva Sobel? A girl born in 1928 in Děčín, daughter of the lawyer Dr Emil Sobel and Nelly Sobel, murdered in 1942 at the Maly Trostenets extermination site.

When was the stone unveiled? In October 2012, as part of one of Brno's successive rounds of Stolperstein installations.

How does a Stolperstein differ from a monument? It is not a conventional monument but a small brass plate set into the pavement in front of the victim's last home, so that passers-by encounter it in the everyday life of the city.

How many Stolpersteine are there in Brno? Around two hundred, making Brno one of the Czech cities with the largest number of these memorial stones.