A city in eastern Germany rejects the installation of new commemorative plaques dedicated to Holocaust victims

The local council of Heidenau, a town in the state of Saxony, approved on Thursday a motion submitted by the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) party and the Christian Democratic Union (CDU), rejecting the future installation of new commemorative plaques dedicated to victims of Nazi persecution.

The decision concerns the “Stolpersteine” plaques, installed in pavements and used in Germany to commemorate Holocaust victims. Supporters of the motion argued that these monuments are inappropriate because they are embedded in the ground and can be stepped on. The council decided that future commemorative ceremonies should focus on a memorial located in the cemetery in the northern part of the town.

The decision contradicts the recommendation of the local administration and reopens the debate over the “Brandmauer”, the informal principle by which Germany’s mainstream political parties exclude official cooperation with the AfD. In this case, the local branches of the CDU and AfD supported the same motion.

The vote takes place in a sensitive political context, with the AfD leading national polls ahead of the CDU, the party of Chancellor Friedrich Merz. The AfD has repeatedly been criticized for relativizing Nazi crimes. Charlotte Knobloch, a representative of a Jewish association in Bavaria, said she was dismayed by the transparent support offered by a democratic party to the AfD’s initiative.