Montessori Lyceum honors dozens of murdered former students with Stolpersteine: "Very honorable"

The Montessori Lyceum Amsterdam has begun a long-term project to honor thirty-five former students and teachers who were murdered during World War II. The initiative involves installing memorial stones, known as stolpersteine, in the pavement directly in front of the school entrance. The first three stones installed commemorate Gideon Boissevain, Lodewijk Gompertz, and Hans Kalker, with the school planning to add more each year until all thirty-five victims are recognized.

Students at the school spent six months researching the lives of these individuals, examining historical school records and tracing their final movements. Through this process, participants like Rein discovered the personal histories and tragic fates of their predecessors, including those lost in concentration camps like Auschwitz and Bergen-Belsen or executed in the dunes of Overveen. By grounding the history of the war in the context of their own school environment, the current students hope to maintain a tangible connection to those who once walked the same halls.