German Town Sparks Outrage as Far-right and Conservatives Rally against Holocaust Memorial Plaques

A decision by a city council in in eastern Germany to halt the laying of memorial plaques that honor Holocaust victims has sparked outrage, not least because some of Chancellor Friedrich Merz's conservatives joined the far-right Alternative for Germany in supporting the move.

The city council of Heidenau, southeast of Dresden, on Thursday voted to end the practice of laying the engraved brass plaques featuring the names of Holocaust victims into sidewalks — often in place of cobblestones and near the homes where they once lived.

Created by German artist Gunter Demnig, the Stolpersteine, or "stumbling blocks" in German, are palm-sized memorial plaques that bear the names and fates of Jews and others persecuted by the Nazis. In Germany, they have become a prominent form of Holocaust remembrance.

Please select this link to read the complete article from The Associated Press.