Munich’s city council has refused to lift a ban on so-called “stumbling stones,” tiny plaques embedded in sidewalks to commemorate Holocaust victims outside their former homes, which are a common sight elsewhere in Germany.
The opposition Greens and a smaller group on the council had sought to clear the way for the stones carrying Holocaust victims’ names to be laid, something that councilors first rejected in 2004.
But news agency dpa reported that the majority of councilors voted against on Wednesday. Opponents of the stones — who include Jewish leaders in Munich — object to them on the grounds that they allow victims’ names to be trampled on again.
Munich instead plans to commemorate victims with posts and plaques outside houses and a memorial with victims’ names.
(AP)
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One Response
“Embedded in sidewalks” sounds like sticking out of sidewalks, presenting a risk to trip while walking and impeding wheeled travel (strollers, wheelchairs). And it’s a sidewalk – sidewalks are traveled, typically walked on. That’s just stupid. There are more practical ways to remember.