On 21 August 2007 primary school teacher Dagmar Menzel sponsored the laying of a stumbling stone for Emma Kraft, a young girl murdered in Auschwitz.

Emma was born on 29. Juni 1927 in Nuremberg. Her father, Hermann Kraft, born on 29 March 1893, came from Burgkunstadt. A qualified businessman, he was also employed as a welder and metal worker. Her mother Martha (née Bayer) came from Nuremberg and was born on 21 May 1895. Her parents had moved to the city from Berlin. Hermann and Martha married on 2 July 1922. On 19 April 1925 their son Ernst Heinrich was born.

According to their declaration at the registry office, Hermann and Martha were “non-religious”. Nevertheless, in the National Socialist state, they were considered Jewish on the grounds of their ancestry.

During the “Night of Broken Glass” on 9 /10 November 1938 Hermann was arrested and taken to Dachau concentration camp. After several weeks there, he was released on 7 December.

Emma was 14 when the family of four were deported to the Riga-Jungfernhof camp on 29 November 1941. Heinrich was murdered there. Hermann, Martha and Emma were moved to Stutthof concentration camp in August 1944. Emma’s parents were murdered in the camp. Emma died in Auschwitz.