Heidenau: AfD and CDU want to ban stumbling blocks
Quick Look
- In Heidenau, the AfD and CDU jointly submitted a motion to reject stumbling blocks on public streets and sidewalks.
- The secret vote in the city council is said to have been 13 votes to 6 with one abstention.
- Instead, the commemoration of Nazi victims should take place in the North Cemetery.
AI-generated summary
Why It Matters
Stolpersteine are memorial stones that have existed since the 1990s and commemorate victims of National Socialism. They are usually relocated to the last known place of residence or work of the victims and are usually financed by donations. There are already stumbling blocks at two locations in Heidenau, including in memory of the former mayor Paul Gröger.
According to the will of the AfD and CDU city councilors, so-called stumbling blocks should no longer be laid in Heidenau, Saxony. In a cross-party motion for a resolution together with the “Upper Elbe Alliance for More Democracy,” both parties called for stumbling blocks to be rejected “in public streets and sidewalks” in the future. According to a report in Bild, the city council voted in a secret decision with 13 votes in favor of the ban, six against and one abstention. The secret vote is said to have been requested by the AfD.
The initiative was justified by the fact that many citizens, relatives and initiatives did not consider this form of remembrance of the victims of National Socialism to be appropriate. Instead, the commemoration should take place in the city's northern cemetery, so "that direct entry into the memorial elements is excluded."
The Heidenau administration had previously called for the proposal to be rejected. “The commemoration should continue to take place in a visible and noticeable way in the public space,” she said.
In Heidenau there are stumbling blocks at two locations, including in memory of the former mayor of Heidenau, Paul Gröger. Last year, the Alternative Culture and Education Center Saxon Switzerland, based in neighboring Pirna, applied for further stumbling blocks to be laid.
“Shabby attempt to throw Heidenau victims of the Nazis out of the city again”
“This is a transparent and shabby attempt to throw Heidenau victims of the Nazis out of the city again and to dispose of them where, in the opinion of the AfD, remembrance has long belonged: in the cemetery,” said Christoph Heubner, Executive Vice President of the International Auschwitz Committee. The fact that CDU members of the AfD “reach out to such shabbiness” is a scandal.
The Stolpersteine memorial form has been around since the 1990s. The paving stones with the names of the victims of National Socialism, usually financed by donations, are laid at the last known place of residence or work of the victims.
What to Watch
AI outlook — possibilities, not facts
The decision will be challenged in court.
Likely · Within months
There will be protests against the decision in Heidenau.
Very likely · Within weeks
Open Questions
- Will the decision be legally challenged?
- How will the Heidenau administration react to the decision?
- Are there plans for alternative forms of commemoration at the North Cemetery?
