Stolpersteine from Heidenau added to the app after a controversial city council decision

In response to the way the small Saxon town of Heidenau deals with stumbling blocks, Schleswig-Holstein's state representative for political education has included the town's five stumbling blocks so far in an app. “The city council’s decision with votes from the CDU and AfD is a conscious attack on our culture of remembrance,” said Christian Meyer-Heidemann of the German Press Agency.

With the “Stolpersteine ​​Digital” app, users can scan stumbling blocks with the camera on their mobile phone and thereby retrieve people’s biographies. Meyer-Heidemann spoke of a conscious sign. “We offer to publish future stumbling blocks digitally in our app if they are not allowed to be laid on site in Heidenau.”

According to Meyer-Heidemann, the “Stolpersteine ​​Digital” app is operated in cooperation with other state centers for political education and is supported by the Federal Agency for Civic Education. In addition to Schleswig-Holstein, stumbling blocks from Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania, Bremen and Saxony-Anhalt can be found in the app. At the beginning of November it will be expanded to Hesse, Rhineland-Palatinate, Brandenburg and Saarland, said the state representative.

Great outrage

In Heidenau, no more stumbling blocks will be placed on public streets in memory of victims of National Socialism. The city council has approved a corresponding proposal from the AfD and CDU. The decision sparked nationwide criticism. Federal Education Minister Karin Prien (CDU) spoke of a scandal.

The Stolpersteine ​​form of remembrance has been around since the 1990s - and is now in many European countries. The small stones, which are usually financed by donations, are laid at the last known place of residence or work of victims of National Socialism - their names and dates of life are written on a brass plate on the top of the stones.

In the cross-party resolution motion together with the “Upper Elbe Alliance for More Democracy”, representatives of the AfD and CDU called for such stumbling blocks to be rejected “in public streets and sidewalks” in the future.