Munich's city council has approved the installation of brass plaques bearing the names of Holocaust victims outside each victim's last known residence, paving the way for some Jewish families in the birthplace of the Nazi movement to be honored. perished in the concentration camps. At the same time, however, the council hit with its negative vote the campaign to promote the twenty-year European program called "Stolpersteine" ("Skopelos"), which was launched on the initiative of the sculptor Gander Demnig in 1996.
"Skopelos" are metal signs, which are placed on the sidewalks of cities across Europe, in front of the houses of Holocaust victims. So far, more than 1.200 large and small cities, including 500 German ones, are participating in the European project. About 54.000 "scopes" have been installed in total. Demnig's supporters believe that having the signs in public places keeps the memory of the Holocaust alive and reminds passers-by of the fate of each victim.
Munich's city council may have voted against the implementation of the program, but the strongest resistance to its implementation came from the most unexpected direction. The city's 4.000-member Jewish community argues that the victims' memories would be further dishonored if passers-by stepped on the sidewalk signs. A group of Jews who lived in the concentration camps, however, vowed to take legal action to overturn the decision. "Justice will prevail, although, unfortunately, many of us will not live to see that day," said 83-year-old Ernst Grube, who lost several of his family members at the Theresienstadt concentration camp, in which today belongs to the Czech Republic. About 10.000 Jews lived in the Bavarian capital before the Holocaust.
Source: Newspaper Everyday, 31.7.2015
