German city Heidenau votes to end Holocaust 'stumbling stones' memorials

The city council of Heidenau, in the German state of Saxony, voted on Thursday to no longer permit new Stolpersteine memorial stones to be placed on the city's streets and sidewalks in memory of Jews and other victims of the Nazi regime.The motion passed in a secret ballot, with 13 council members voting in favor, six opposed, and one abstaining. It was jointly submitted by representatives of the right-wing Christian Democratic Union (CDU) and Alternative for Germany (AfD), together with representatives of the "Oberelbe Alliance for More Democracy."German artist Gunter Demnig launched the Stolpersteine, or "stumbling stones," project in the 1990s, and it has become one of the world's largest decentralized memorial projects.The small brass plaques are generally embedded in the pavement outside the former home or last workplace of a person persecuted or murdered by the Nazis.