Stolperstein dedicated to Rafael Acosta Moreno

The Stolperstein dedicated to Rafael Acosta Moreno is one of the small memorial stones set into the pavement of Madrid, honoring victims and survivors of Nazi persecution. This brass-topped cobblestone bears the name, deportation date, and destination of the man it commemorates — Rafael Acosta Moreno, a Madrid native born in 1916.

Who was Rafael Acosta Moreno?

Rafael Acosta Moreno served as a second lieutenant in the medical corps during the Spanish Civil War. After the Republic's defeat, like thousands of other Spaniards, he crossed into France and was interned at the Septfonds camp. From there, along with many fellow exiles, he was assigned to labor company No. 64, working first at Cravant-à-Mézidon and later at Bretteville-sur-Laize in Calvados.

Why was he sent to a concentration camp?

Once Germany occupied France, the Spanish Republicans working in these labor companies became targets of Nazi repression. Acosta Moreno was arrested and held at the transit camp in Compiègne, from where he was deported on May 21, 1944, to the Neuengamme concentration camp — one of the largest on German soil. He was part of a convoy carrying 2,004 people, mostly French and Spanish political prisoners.

What happened to him?

Unlike many of his fellow deportees, Rafael Acosta Moreno survived the camp. After liberation, he chose not to return to Franco's Spain and instead stayed in France, rebuilding his life in exile. He died in early 2000 in Martignas-sur-Jalle, a town near Bordeaux.

What will you see on site?

A Stolperstein is a small, roughly 10-centimeter square cobblestone topped with an engraved brass plate. You'll find it embedded in the pavement of a Madrid street — the project, created by German artist Gunter Demnig, arrived in the city in 2019, and more stones have since been added to remember people deported to German camps during the Second World War. Acosta Moreno's stone is one of eight laid together, dedicated to Madrid-born Republicans sent to Nazi concentration camps.

How do you get there?

The stone sits in central Madrid, in a densely built area easily reached on foot or by metro, well connected to the rest of the city. It's worth combining the visit with a walk to other stones from the same series, scattered across different neighborhoods of the capital.

When is the best time to visit?

There's no particular season for this stop — it's part of the everyday urban fabric, accessible year-round, at any hour. Quieter times of day are best, when you can pause without the rush of passersby, read the inscription, and reflect on the history it recalls.

Why is it worth a stop?

Stolpersteine aren't a tourist attraction in the conventional sense — they're a form of memory scattered across the city, restoring faces and names to victims who might otherwise be lost in the statistics of war. Pausing at one of these stones is a gesture of respect toward a specific person whose life was marked by war, deportation, and exile.

Frequently asked questions

What is a Stolperstein? It's a small brass-topped cobblestone set into the pavement, commemorating a victim or survivor of Nazi persecution — part of a pan-European project by artist Gunter Demnig.

Did Rafael Acosta Moreno survive the war? Yes. He survived deportation to the Neuengamme camp and remained in France after the war, where he died in 2000.

When did the first Stolpersteine appear in Madrid? The project reached the city in 2019, and additional stones continue to be added at various points across the capital.

Is there an admission fee? No — the stone is set into a public pavement, free to view at any time.