Stein was born in Wrocław, then Breslau, on October 12, 1891. Tuesday will mark the 80th anniversary of her death in the gas chamber of the Nazi German concentration camp of Auschwitz.
An oak commemorating Stein was planted in a park close to the Edith Stein House at 38 Nowowiejska St. in Wrocław, where the future saint lived for 23 years, and one of the city’s trams was named after her.
Commemorative events also include an exhibition in tribute to Stein and a concert by the Wrocław Baroque Ensemble at the city’s Main Railway Station, where she was last seen on August 7, 1942, on board a train carrying her along with other Jews to Auschwitz.
The concert, which is part of the Star of Europe tour, will be repeated at the site of the Auschwitz camp on Tuesday, and later this month will be given in the Dutch town of Echt, where Stein served as a Carmelite nun in the local convent.
Stein went down in history as a philosopher seeking a path to spiritual growth. She became a leading figure of the phenomenological school, trying to interpret phenomenology from a Catholic standpoint.
She gave up the Jewish faith and converted to Roman Catholicism in 1922, and joined the Carmelites 12 years later.
Stein is one of the six patron saints of Europe.
(mk/gs)