Close to where you find the „Stolpersteine“ (stumbling stones) for the members of the Stenschewki family (Schlosskirchplatz 3), there must have been the wine and liquor store of Max Schindler‘s father. Max Schindler later recalled that his fathers shop was near the Schocken department store. The Schocken department store had a Jewish owner and, like the business of Max Schindlers' father, was "aryanized" by the National Socialists. Most of the building was destroyed in the war. Only the part with the logo was preserved.
But during the war far more was destroyed than buildings. The Jewish community of Cottbus was almost completely wiped out. In April 1942, many Cottbus Jews were deported to the Warsaw Ghetto, and on 24 August the inhabitants of the "Houses for Jews" were deported to Theresienstadt Ghetto. After the end of the war in 1945, of the Jewish community, which had had almost 400 members in 1933, only twelve still lived in Cottbus. As in many other cities, Cottbus commemorates the deported and murdered Jewish Cottbusers with "Stolpersteine" (stumbling stones). So far, about 80 „Stolpersteine“ have been laid in Cottbus.