Nazi Germany

A small town in eastern Germany has banned the installation of new 'stumbling blocks' — brass memorial plaques set into pavements marking the last known homes or workplaces of Jews and other Nazi victims. The decision has drawn widespread outrage across Germany, with critics calling it a troubling signal about attitudes toward Holocaust remembrance in parts of the former East Germany.

A German town has drawn national outrage after far-right groups and local conservatives rallied against plaques commemorating Holocaust victims. Critics say the opposition amounts to an attempt to whitewash Nazi-era crimes and reflects growing acceptance of extremist positions in parts of German local politics. Supporters of the memorial argue such commemorations are essential to confronting Germany's history.

A widely shared German-language commentary argues that Heidenau is another telling statement by the Union about itself rather than about the AfD or the state of democracy. The author criticises the party for repeating for years the mantra that Nazis must be confronted 'on substance' instead of being banned, questioning what that record reveals about the centre-right's own stance on extremism.

Germany's far-right AfD has moved to ban Stolpersteine, the small brass memorials embedded in pavements across Germany and Europe commemorating victims of the Nazis. Critics say the party is attempting to erase the memory of Nazi crimes while simultaneously insisting it is not a Nazi party, and the contradiction is drawing sharp condemnation and widespread discussion.