Stolperstein dedicated to Hugo Sonnenschein

The Stolperstein dedicated to MUDr. Hugo Sonnenschein is a brass memorial plaque set into the pavement on Malinovského náměstí in Brno, one of tens of thousands laid across European cities as part of German artist Gunter Demnig's ongoing project. Each Stolperstein bears the name of a single victim of Nazi persecution and is placed outside their last freely chosen home. This one in Brno commemorates a local physician and father whose family was almost entirely torn apart and destroyed by the machinery of the Holocaust.

Who was Hugo Sonnenschein?

Hugo Sonnenschein was born on 26 April 1897 in Kyjov, Moravia. He studied medicine at the Faculty of Medicine of Masaryk University in Brno between 1919 and 1923. He married Trude (Gertrude) Sonnenschein, née Mayer, and the couple had two sons, Paul (Pavel) Sonnenschein and Otto, who later also used the surname Slunský. The family lived at Malinovského náměstí 5 in the centre of Brno.

What was his medical career like?

Sonnenschein specialised in nervous and mental disorders. In 1925 he worked as a junior physician at the regional hospital in Brno, at the time living at what is now Solniční street (formerly U solnice). He also ran a private practice at Na hradbách 8, today's Rooseveltova street. He was, in other words, a well-established figure in Brno's interwar medical community, before the German occupation and racial persecution ended his career.

How was he deported?

On 8 April 1942, Hugo Sonnenschein was deported from Brno on transport Ai-583 to the Terezín (Theresienstadt) ghetto, which served as a transit camp for Jews from Moravia. His wife Trude appeared on the same transport, listed just one place after him as Ai-584 — the couple were deported together. After more than two years in Terezín, on 23 October 1944 Hugo was sent on a further transport, Et-1391, to the Auschwitz concentration and extermination camp, again alongside his wife, who travelled on transport Et-1392. Records indicate he perished at Auschwitz after that date; the exact circumstances of his death, as with thousands of others sent along the same route, were never documented in detail.

The stone as part of a family memorial

Hugo Sonnenschein's Stolperstein does not stand alone. At the very same spot in the pavement at Malinovského náměstí 5, stones were also laid for his wife Trude and their sons Paul (Pavel) and Otto Slunský-Sonnenschein. Together, the four plaques form a small, symbolic cluster — a record of a family that lived at this address before the war scattered and destroyed its members at different times and on different transports. All four stones were unveiled on the same day, 29 October 2012.

Where can you find this Stolperstein?

The stone lies in the pavement at Malinovského náměstí 5 in the centre of Brno, the Czech Republic's second-largest city, at coordinates 49.19565 N, 16.613169 E. Like all Stolpersteine, it is small and set flush with the pavement — easy to walk past unless you look carefully at your feet.

Frequently asked questions

What is a Stolperstein? A small brass plaque embedded in the pavement, commemorating a single victim of Nazi persecution at the site of their last freely chosen residence. The project was started by German artist Gunter Demnig and now includes tens of thousands of stones across Europe.

Who was Hugo Sonnenschein? A physician from Brno who specialised in nervous and mental disorders, husband of Trude Sonnenschein and father of Paul and Otto. Deported from Brno together with his family, he perished at Auschwitz after 23 October 1944.

Was this Hugo Sonnenschein related to the poet of the same name? No — the shared surname is coincidental. A Czech-Jewish avant-garde poet named Hugo Sonnenschein (pen name "Sonka") also existed, but he was a completely different person with an entirely different biography and fate.

Why are there several Stolpersteine at this address? Because the whole Sonnenschein family lived at Malinovského náměstí 5 — besides Hugo, the stones also commemorate his wife Trude and their sons Paul and Otto.