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Protesters build Holocaust memorial at home of far-right German politician Protesters build Holocaust memorial at home of far-right German politician
(35 minutes later)
A group of activists unveiled a replica of Berlin’s Holocaust Memorial secretly erected outside the home of a far-right AfD politician who says Germans should stop atoning for Nazi guilt.A group of activists unveiled a replica of Berlin’s Holocaust Memorial secretly erected outside the home of a far-right AfD politician who says Germans should stop atoning for Nazi guilt.
Art collective Centre for Political Beauty set up 24 large concrete slabs in a garden next to Bjoern Hoecke’s house, saying it wanted to send a daily reminder of the second world war horrors that led to deaths of six million Jewish people. Art collective Centre for Political Beauty set up 24 large concrete slabs in a garden next to Björn Höcke’s house, saying it wanted to send a daily reminder of the second world war horrors that led to deaths of 6 million Jewish people.
“We are doing our neighbourly duty,” the group’s leader Philipp Ruch told the Frankfurter Rundschau newspaper. “We are doing our neighbourly duty,” the group’s leader, Philipp Ruch, told the Frankfurter Rundschau newspaper. “We hope he enjoys the view every day when he looks out the window.”
“We hope he enjoys the view every day when he looks out the window.”
The slabs are a smaller-sized replica of the famed Holocaust Memorial in Berlin, which consists of a solemn field of 2,700 grey blocks meant to evoke a cemetery.The slabs are a smaller-sized replica of the famed Holocaust Memorial in Berlin, which consists of a solemn field of 2,700 grey blocks meant to evoke a cemetery.
Leading Alternative for Germany (AfD) member Hoecke provoked outrage in January when he labelled the tribute to the victims a “monument of shame in the heart of the capital” and urged Germans to focus less on their war guilt. The leading Alternative for Germany (AfD) member Höcke provoked outrage in January when he labelled the tribute to the victims a “monument of shame in the heart of the capital” and urged Germans to focus less on their war guilt.
Ruch said the protest group had secretly begun renting the property next door to Hoecke’s house in the village of Bornhagen 10 months ago, in response to the controversial speech. Ruch said the protest group had secretly begun renting the property next door to Höcke’s house in the village of Bornhagen 10 months ago, in response to the controversial speech.
“He will now have to deal with the fact that he has neighbours who don’t consider the Holocaust Memorial a ‘monument of shame’, but who try to remember what had happened, to prevent it from happening again,” Ruch told the daily.“He will now have to deal with the fact that he has neighbours who don’t consider the Holocaust Memorial a ‘monument of shame’, but who try to remember what had happened, to prevent it from happening again,” Ruch told the daily.
The group launched a crowdfunding campaign to keep up the protest action for at least two years, and reached its initial goal of €28,000 (£25,000) by mid-morning on Wednesday. The group launched a crowdfunding campaign to keep up the protest action for at least two years, and reached its initial goal of €28,000 (£25,000) by mid-morning on Wednesday. It is now hoping to raise €54,000 to maintain the installation for five years.
It is now hoping to raise €54,000 to maintain the installation for five years. On its website, the art collective urged Höcke to show contrition by “falling to his knees” in front of the memorial, recalling a gesture made by the former chancellor Willy Brandt in 1970 at a monument to the heroes of the Warsaw ghetto uprising.
On its website, the art collective urged Hoecke to show contrition by “falling to his knees” in front of the memorial, recalling a gesture made by former chancellor Willy Brandt in 1970 at a monument to the heroes of the Warsaw ghetto uprising. There was no immediate reaction from Höcke to the stunt but the far-right Compact magazine, which has close ties to the AfD, condemned the “political war”.
There was no immediate reaction from Hoecke to the stunt but the far-right Compact magazine, which has close ties to the AfD, condemned the “political war”. Höcke’s notorious speech proved divisive even among fellow party members, highlighting the internal power struggle between more moderate and more hardline nationalist factions.
Hoecke’s notorious speech proved divisive even among fellow party members, highlighting the internal power struggle between more moderate and more hardline nationalist factions. The AfD ultimately decided not to expel Höcke, however, and it went on to win nearly 13% of the vote in September’s general election.
The AfD ultimately decided not to expel Hoecke, however, and it went on to win nearly 13% of the vote in September’s general election.