German Town's Ban on Nazi Victim Memorials Sparks Outrage
Education Minister calls ban 'scandal' as Jewish leaders and politicians condemn the removal of 'stumbling stones'.
Germany's education minister has condemned a town's decision to ban "stumbling stones" – small brass plaques commemorating victims of the Nazi regime – from public spaces, calling the move a "scandal."
The decision in a German town to remove the memorials has drawn sharp criticism from prominent figures, including Holocaust survivor Charlotte Knobloch and Karin Prien, a member of the Christian Democratic Union (CDU).
Prien stated, "Anyone who banishes Stolpersteine and memorial sites commemorating Jewish life from public spaces to the cemetery is prioritizing death over life and rendering Jewish people invisible once again." She also indicated that her own party in Saxony bears responsibility for the decision.
Charlotte Knobloch, president of the Jewish Community in Munich, described the removal of memorials from the cityscape as "completely the wrong approach." Speaking to the Funke Media Group, she expressed dismay that a democratic party would support "such a transparent maneuver by the extremists of the AfD." Knobloch, while not a personal supporter of the stumbling stones, emphasized that "decentralized remembrance – which is not banished from public space but, on the contrary, permeates and shapes it" is vital for a genuine culture of remembrance.
In Munich, "stumbling stones" are not placed on municipal land; instead, the city permits memorial plaques on public buildings.
Gunter Demnig, the artist behind the "stumbling stone" project, noted that given the recent electoral successes of the Alternative for Germany (AfD) party, such actions might have been anticipated. The AfD recently achieved significant victories in state elections in Saxony-Anhalt and Mecklenburg-Vorpommern. Some factions of the AfD are classified as right-wing extremist by domestic intelligence agencies, a designation the party disputes. The party's platform, characterized by its anti-immigration stance, "Germany first" rhetoric, and pro-Russian leanings, has gained traction in eastern Germany.
