Two schools in Anderlecht have refused to participate in the placing of four new ‘stolpersteine’ (memorials) for Jewish families deported or murdered by the Nazis during the Holocaust.
The news was confirmed by Zalc Meyer, chairman of the Association for the Memory of the Shoah (AMS), which organises the ceremony.
Historically, the Brussels municipality of Anderlecht has been home to a large Jewish community. They settled around the South Station and the Marolles neighbourhood until the start of World War II.
The area saw extensive raids on Jews after Belgium and Brussels were occupied by Nazi Germany in May 1940.
To commemorate the deported Jews of Anderlecht and the beginning of the Holocaust in Brussels, the AMS holds remembrance events using ‘stolpersteine’—gold-coloured cobblestones inscribed with the names of Jewish victims, their deportation dates, and the dates and places of their death.
Eighty-five years after the deportations began, two Anderlecht schools have refused to attend the ceremony on Friday at Brogniez and Georges Moreau Streets, where the Tancman family and Eva Fichtenholc will be honoured with stolpersteine.
Zalc Meyer expressed his shock at the decision by Carrefour Primary School and the Institute Communal Marius Renard. The latter cited concerns about “importing conflicts into our school,” a reference to the Middle East conflict and Israeli actions in Gaza.
Meyer disputed this reasoning, stating, “We are not importing conflicts; we are discussing the consequences of the Holocaust from 1940 to 1945.” He finds it alarming that discussing the Holocaust appears to be off limits in schools, especially at the sixth-grade level.
He believes schools are yielding to parental pressure. Meyer, himself a hidden child during World War II, emphasised that remembering the Shoah is essential, particularly amid rising antisemitism in Europe linked to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
He noted that weeks earlier, installing ‘stolpersteine’ in the nearby municipality of Sint-Jans-Molenbeek posed no issues. “This problem is new. Schools have never refused to attend the ceremony before; this is something new affecting Anderlecht,” he added.
Meyer urged school administrations and local governments not to bow to student or parental pressure. Knowing the history of the Shoah is crucial to combating hatred, antisemitism, and racism, he said.
Valérie Glatigny, the French-speaking Minister of Education and a Brussels resident, has been informed and has written to both schools. “In these letters, we remind the school administrations that it is essential to teach children about the Shoah, as it is part of the schools’ mission,” her spokesperson told Bruzz. “We support the administrations and teachers facing pressure to self-censor.”
Anderlecht’s Education Councillor Luiza Duraki (PS) expressed regret over the schools’ decision. “We understand the importance of such an event, but we can also empathise with the parents’ concerns,” she said. “Even though the Israeli-Palestinian conflict has nothing to do with the stolpersteine.”
