Munich poised to lift ban on Holocaust memorial project

[Behind the Aegis]

Source: Yahoo! (via AFP)

Munich (Germany) (AFP) - Ernst Grube, a sprightly 82-year-old Munich native with a ready smile, has had enough.

Seventy years after surviving a Nazi concentration camp and losing several close family members to the gas chambers in German-occupied Poland, Grube said the time had come for relatives to be allowed to choose their own way of remembering their dead.

Grube's hometown, however, levelled an official ban more than a decade ago on what has become the most personal and popular Holocaust memorial project in Europe today, known as Stolpersteine ("stumbling blocks&quot .

For nearly 20 years, pedestrians have been stumbling across the names of Nazi-era victims on coaster-sized brass plaques embedded in the pavement in front of their last known addresses.

The 50,000th Stolperstein was laid this month, ahead of the 70th anniversary on Tuesday of the liberation of the Auschwitz death camp, and they can now be found in more than 1,000 cities and towns throughout Europe.



Read more: http://news.yahoo.com/munich-poised-lift-ban-holocaust-memorial-project-051802579.html

[Ken Burch]

1. No excuse for Munich ever having banned that.

After all that happened at Dachau (just a few kilometres away), how dare they impose such a ban.

[leftynyc]

2. Good news

I can't think of one reason anyone would have thought a ban would be the right thing to do.

[GermanWatcher]

3. Good news indeed

Actually, the driving force behind the ban was the head of the Jewish community here in Munich. In her opinion, the memory of the victims would be blemished by people stepping on the Stolpersteine. That´s why she worked against those stumbling blocks being laid in Munich for years and years now.
It´s only now that those in favor of this kind of memorial (including many relatives of victims of the Shoah) seem to gain the upper hand in Munich. In my opinion, because of personal stories they tell, the Stolpersteine are a beautiful and effective constant reminder of what happened then.

[leftynyc]

4. Agree about the reminder

But now I understand the objection. I remember feeling very weird walking on the graves of people in Westminster Abbey, Canterbury Cathedral, etc.

[GermanWatcher]

5. Agreed

Last edited Wed Jan 21, 2015, 10:44 AM - Edit history (1)

Yes, there is that. However, as a German I think it´s better to be reminded (even - or perhaps all the more - if there´s a weird feeling connected to it).
There is another aspect: I´ve watched people bend down to read the names on the stones - and thereby metaphorically bowing to the victims.

[leftynyc]

7. Do you live in or near Munich? (n/t)

[GermanWatcher]

8. Munich born and raised

... and haven´t gotten all that far. Yep, I live right in that Bavarian village we call a metropolis...

[leftynyc]

9. Welcome to DU

It's always great to have a non-American's point of view of the world.

[GermanWatcher]

10. Thanks.

[mndemsocialist]

11. Herzlich Wilkommen!

I agree, it is always good to get a non-American view of things. By the way, I have a sister, an American, who has lived in Salzburg since 1984 and who presently sings at the Landestheater. I have visited her a number of times, and have always tried to make time to visit your lovely city of München.

[GermanWatcher]

12. :)

Good to see that transatlantic bridge is still standing!

[appalachiablue]

13. There must be physical, tangible reminders. Since the stones are hard to miss

because of foot traffic they may be more effective and visible than some well intentioned building plaques, monuments and statues especially if driving. I'm ok about it and glad to know of them. As a fairly new DUer I've noticed a member from Norway and a German who relocated to the US post War with ties to Germany.

In 1972 I visited Munich, Erlangen and Nurenburg as a teen with friends, a wonderful experience and introduction to Europe. Staying in Schwabing and seeing sites like the Olympic Village and lovely Englischer Garten were highlights. I returned during college and also saw some of Strasbourg, Freiburg and Salzburg. My father spent much time in Bavaria in WWII including the Dachau Liberation and in the Army of Occupation; I didn't know much of this until recently. Welcome. Guten Tag, und Auf Wiedersprechen.

[Overseas]

6. K&R. Glad to hear it.