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International March of the Living slams German town Heidenau's ban on new Stolpersteine
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The International March of the Living has sharply criticized a decision by the city council of Heidenau, Saxony, to stop approving new Stolpersteine (brass 'stumbling stones' commemorating Nazi victims). A majority of CDU, AfD, and the Bündnis Heidenauer Bürger alliance passed the resolution last week. The Holocaust memorial and education organization called the move a 'Weckruf' (wake-up call) for Germany, warning it serves political interests at the expense of historical truth and continues the Nazi effort to erase victims from history. The group demands the city reverse the decision and urges German society to resist any attempt to push remembrance of Nazi crimes out of public consciousness. The March of the Living annually organizes the world's largest memorial march between Auschwitz and Birkenau, involving survivors, leaders, and thousands of young people.
Source report
Source: Robert Michael / dpa
The International March of the Living has sharply criticized the decision by the Heidenau city council to no longer approve new Stolpersteine (stumbling stones).
Last week, a majority comprising the CDU, AfD, and the Heidenauer Bürger alliance voted to stop the installation of further Stolpersteine in the Saxon town. The Holocaust memorial initiative described the move as a "wake-up call" and warned against the suppression of remembrance for the victims of National Socialism from public spaces.
"Stolpersteine confront people at the very places where persecution took place with the history of Nazi persecution," the organization stated. Preventing further Stolpersteine from being laid serves "political interests at the expense of historical truth."
The Nazis murdered Jews while simultaneously attempting "to erase their names, their communities, and their place in history," the statement continued. Now, elected officials in Germany have voted to prevent additional names from appearing on the streets where the victims once lived.
The statement further read: "The murders cannot be undone. Denying the victims remembrance adds another grave injustice: it continues the effort to erase them from history." Germany bears a special responsibility to confront the crimes against Jews and against humanity. "Eighty-one years later, this responsibility demands intensified remembrance efforts and a determined fight against both forgetting and the deliberate erasure of memory."
Source: Ryan Blau
The organization is calling on Heidenau to reverse its decision. At the same time, it appeals to politicians and society in Germany to oppose any attempt to push the memory of Nazi crimes out of public consciousness.
About March of the Living:
- An international Holocaust memorial and education organization
- Organizes the world's largest annual memorial march between the former Nazi German concentration and extermination camps Auschwitz and Birkenau
- Participants each year include Holocaust survivors, heads of state and government, and thousands of young people from around the world
- Also holds memorial events throughout the year across Europe to commemorate Holocaust victims
Source
Nachrichten - WELTWestern
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Heidenau city council bans new Holocaust memorial stones, sparking national outrage