Banaszak on the ban on Stolpersteine in Heidenau: “A scandal”

Green Party leader Felix Banaszak has expressed outrage over the move by the CDU and AfD in Heidenau, Saxony, to stop installing Stolpersteine in public spaces. “It’s a scandal that the CDU and AfD in Heidenau are joining forces to prevent the installation of Stolpersteine in public spaces,” he told the German Press Agency. Especially in light of the current debates on how to deal with right-wing extremism and the rise of the AfD, he said, every effort must be made “to keep alive the memory of those who were persecuted and murdered.”

In Heidenau, Saxony, near Dresden, no more Stolpersteine are to be laid in memory of victims of National Socialism. A motion by city council members from the AfD and CDU was approved by a majority vote on Thursday evening. The motion stated that many people consider this form of commemorating victims of National Socialism to be inappropriate. Instead, the motion proposed that commemorations should preferably take place at the city’s North Cemetery, “so that stepping directly on the memorial elements is prevented.” 

Banaszak said: “The argument that people might step on the Stolpersteine is absurd.” The real scandal, he said, is that the memory of the victims of National Socialism is being trampled underfoot here. On the contrary, the Green Party politician argued, the very act of stepping on the stones is what gives them their strength. “They bring the names and fates of the victims into our everyday lives and prompt us to pause for a moment.” Anyone who wants to banish this memorial from the streetscape must ask themselves why the visible remembrance of the victims is a nuisance.