This stumbling stone is located outside Katharinenstraße 53 in Lübeck, commemorating the life of Paul Gerbaulet, who was born on 1 April 1910 in Epe, in western Münsterland. He came from a family of blacksmiths, cattle traders and butchers, but his father’s work as a dispatcher allowed the children a good education. Paul studied veterinary medicine in Münster and he enjoyed working as a vet.
After the outbreak of war, Gerbaulet was called up for military service. In September 1940 he moved to Lübeck, lodging with the Ahrens family at Katharinenstraße 53, a household which appears to have had connections with people opposed to the Nazi regime. He had only been in the city for a little over two months when, on 26 November 1940, he was arrested by the Lübeck criminal police. He was facing prosecution under Paragraph 175, the law used by the Nazi state to persecute men for homosexuality, and was taken first to Lübeck-Lauerhof before being transferred to Hamburg.
The last part of his story is almost unbearable. Gerbaulet served in various military units, was wounded in action in 1941 and was later held in Hamburg. On 31 March 1942, the day before his 32nd birthday, he was shot at the Höltigbaum military training ground in Hamburg-Rahlstedt after being sentenced to death. His parents travelled to Hamburg; his father accompanied him, under guard, from the cell to the shooting range. Gerbaulet was asked whether he wanted to be blindfolded. He refused. Then he was shot in front of his parents.
This story is horrendous at every single level. His parents must have been haunted for the rest of their lives at not just the loss of their child, but the manner in which it happened. There is very little information about Paul online, just that provided by the organisation that places the stumbling stones and they’ve done a marvellous job in ensuring that he won’t be entirely forgotten. The bravery that Paul showed is astounding, he is one of the heroes that should be remembered in this city and I’m not entirely sure that he is.