A city council in eastern Germany has voted to halt the installation of new “stumbling stones” memorializing Holocaust victims, marking a departure from the longstanding national effort to commemorate those murdered by the Nazi regime. The decision was made last week by the City Council of Heidenau, a town of about 16,500 residents, where a 13-6 secret ballot approved a ban on placing seven new brass plaques known as “Stolpersteine” outside the homes of Jewish victims.

The motion was jointly proposed by councilors from the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD), the center-right Christian Democratic Union (C.D.U.), Chancellor Friedrich Merz’s party, and a small group of local independents. Proponents of the ban argued that placing the plaques in sidewalks risked causing disrespect because people might accidentally step on them. Instead, they suggested erecting a general memorial within the local cemetery.

The decision has sparked widespread criticism at both local and national levels. The C.D.U.’s national leadership, which has traditionally rejected collaboration with the AfD, condemned the vote. Holocaust memorialization remains a deeply ingrained principle of modern Germany, with many viewing the physical placement of Stolpersteine in public spaces as a vital reminder of the individual lives lost during the Nazi era. Critics contend the concern over stepping on the plaques masks a deeper political agenda, pointing to the AfD’s known opposition to Germany’s collective memory culture regarding its wartime past.

The AfD has not publicly commented on the Heidenau vote but has previously described Holocaust remembrance as a “cult of guilt” and downplayed the Holocaust’s significance. Germany’s domestic intelligence agency classifies the AfD as a “suspected extremist” organization—a label the party denies as politically motivated. The recent controversy unfolds amid the AfD’s rising national popularity and its electoral victory in Saxony-Anhalt, where it is moving to form a state government—the first far-right party to do so in Germany since World War II.

Germany’s education minister, Karin Prien of the C.D.U., condemned the council’s vote as “scandalous.” Israeli Ambassador to Germany Ron Prosor expressed shame over the decision, emphasizing that erasing victims’ memory amounts to erasing history itself.

Each Stolperstein is a small, roughly 4-inch brass plaque set into the pavement in front of a victim’s last known residence. Inscribed with the individual’s name and dates of birth and deportation, the stones are part of a project initiated by artist Gunter Demnig over 30 years ago. They have become widespread across 31 countries, with more than 116,000 installed to date. The project aims to personalize the immense tragedy of the Holocaust by focusing on individual stories rather than abstract numbers.

In Germany, schools, youth groups, and NGOs often fund and organize the installation of these memorials, which are highlighted annually on January 27, Holocaust Memorial Day, when communities polish the stones and light candles.

Anne Nitschke, an activist who applied for the Heidenau Stolpersteine, dismissed the council’s rationale as an attempt to marginalize public memorials, pushing remembrance out of everyday life to the city’s periphery. Christoph Huebner, vice president of the International Auschwitz Committee, described the move as an “attempt to once again drive the victims of the Nazis in Heidenau out of the city,” reinforcing the AfD’s preference for relocating remembrance to cemeteries rather than public spaces.

Heidenau’s mayor, Conny Oertel, an independent, opposed the ban in council debates but later defended those who supported it, emphasizing that the entire council remains committed to honoring Nazi victims, differing only on the method of commemoration.