Holocaust memory under ban - scandal in Germany
The city council of the German town of Heidenau has banned the installation of new "stumbling stones" — memorial plaques for Nazi victims. The vote took place on September 24: 13 in favor, 6 against, one abstention. The initiative was introduced by the AfD and the CDU. Applications for installing the markers on sidewalks will be rejected, with a proposal to relocate remembrance to a cemetery. The city administration recommended rejecting the ban. Memory organizations and the International Auschwitz Committee criticized the decision, calling it an attempt to push memory out of public space.
The city council of the German town of Heidenau voted to ban the installation of new "stumbling stones" — small brass plaques embedded in sidewalks in memory of Nazi victims. The vote took place on Thursday, September 24, 2026: 13 council members voted in favor, six against, and one abstained. The initiative was introduced by representatives of the Alternative for Germany (AfD) party and the Christian Democratic Union (CDU) — the party of Chancellor Friedrich Merz — joined by deputies from the "Upper Elbe Alliance for Greater Democracy." According to the decision, applications for installing new markers "on public streets and sidewalks" will be rejected. Supporters of the ban believe that passersby "walk on the names of victims or even step on them" and propose concentrating remembrance at a memorial at the Northern Cemetery. The city administration recommended that the council reject the proposal, reminding that memory should remain "visible and present in public space." Five such markers are already installed in Heidenau; activists submitted an application for new ones in February 2025. The "March of Life" organization called the decision a "serious warning sign," and the International Auschwitz Committee called it an attempt to once again push Nazi victims out of the city center. The committee separately criticized the cooperation between CDU and AfD representatives, sparking debates about the "firewall" — an unwritten rule that Germany's mainstream parties do not work with the AfD. The "stumbling stones" project was started by artist Gunter Demnig in the 1990s; currently, between 116,000 and 128,000 such markers are installed in 31 countries, most in Germany.