AfD, CDU ban new Holocaust 'stumbling stones' in Heidenau

Key Points:

• The town of Heidenau, near Dresden, has banned the installation of new Stolpersteine (stumbling stones) on public streets, with the center-right CDU and far-right AfD voting together to stop the memorial plaques honoring Holocaust victims.
• Stolpersteine, created by artist Gunter Demnig in the 1990s, are small concrete cubes with metal plaques bearing the names of Nazi victims, placed near their former homes as a visible form of remembrance.
• Supporters of the ban argue that the stones cause passersby to walk over victims' names and suggest cemeteries as alternative memorial sites, a rationale rejected by Demnig who stresses the importance of visible, local remembrance.
• The CDU's alliance with the AfD on this issue has sparked outrage, with critics accusing the CDU of abandoning Christian values and undermining the political firewall against far-right extremism in Germany.
• The International Auschwitz Committee and German Green Party leaders condemned the ban as a scandal, emphasizing the need to preserve the memory of Holocaust victims amid rising right-wing extremism.