Following the conference “Between innovation of method and technologies applied to cultural heritage”, held in Rome on 21 March 2025, the portal was launched , project outcome Digital Stumbling Stones, created by the Jewish Community of Rome (CER) and the National Institute of Geophysics and Volcanology (INGV) as part of the call for Co-financing of Research, Development and Training for Cultural Heritage and Technologies for Culture promoted by the DTC Lazio Center of Excellence.
“The project has made it possible to create a web platform for viewing the biographies of those to whom the Stumbling Stones are dedicated, the well-known initiative by artist Gunter Demnig, which aims to deposit the Memory of citizens deported to Nazi extermination camps in the urban fabric,” says Sarah Catelani, Project Manager of the Jewish Community of Rome and Project Manager; “the web platform is accessible via mobile devices and allows, with common GPS geolocalization sensors, to view the Stumbling Stones accompanied by biographical notes, ordering them based on distance from the place of consultation”
The project portal, whose IT implementation was curated by Marco Abbina and Emanuele Di Porto for CER, was launched by selecting 17 biographical profiles, including those of university professors, intellectuals and employees released from service in Research Institutes and Universities starting from 1938, to document the devastating impact of the "Racial Laws" on Italian culture.
“The platform was created in synergy with the project's objectives , on the impact of the Racial Laws on Science and Culture, of which INGV is a promoter, together with the National Research Council, the National Academy of the Lincei, the Institute for the Analysis of Public Policies, the Union of Italian Jewish Communities and CER”, says Aldo Winkler, paleomagnetist and first technologist of the INGV, Scientific Director of Digital Stumbling Stones and coordinator of Memory page.
“The portal is expandable, to host an ever-increasing number of biographies and personal data relating to the Stumbling Stones”, states Claudio Procaccia, director of the Department for Cultural Heritage and Activities of the CER; “the aim of this project was to promote and update the dissemination of historical memory in an innovative and accessible way, with potential applications in further geographical, historical and cultural contexts, with the intent of promoting this platform on a large scale”.
“Projects like this lay the foundations for reflecting on how technologies can transform the experience of cultural heritage into a concrete act of custody for future generations,” concludes Simone Bozzato, President of DTC Lazio; “furthermore, they create new professional figures and skills, promoting new spaces for sharing culture and, in this specific case, Memory.”
The biographical files were compiled by Stefania Ficacci, Giordana Terracina and Sandra Terracina and involved specific registry research, which was integrated with the data collected by the Cultural Association Arte in Memoria to finalize the requests for the installation of the Stumbling Stones. The additional documentary sources come from the Fondazione Centro di Documentazione Ebraica Contemporanea and from project initiatives such as Pagina della Memoria.
Collaborating on the project were Alessia Glielmi, responsible for document management and archives at the CNR, and Adachiara Zevi, president of the Arte in Memoria Cultural Association, which oversees the installation of the Stumbling Stones for the Municipality of Rome.
ADDENDUM: Installation Instructions
The portal is available at the web address:
You can install it for use in app mode
On Google Chrome – PC mode
- Access the site
- Press the “three dots” at the top right of the page
- Go to the “Stream, Save & Share” menu
- Select “Install page as app”
On ANDROID devices
- Access the site
- Press the “three dots” at the top right of the page
- Select “add to HOME screen”
- Install the APP
On iPhone or iPad devices
- Access the site
- tap on the share icon located at the bottom
- select the Add to Home screen item.
- type the name and press Add to insert it into the Home.
The geolocation tool and a selection of biographies sorted by distance from the place of use
Detail of the biographical sheet of Fiorella Anticoli and Fiorina Spizzichino, from the link
Site Logo
QR code for access to the site