Linz wants his own way instead of "stumbling stones"

Linz wants his own way instead of "stumbling stones"

LINZ. Linz SPÖ announces its own commemorative project.

The irritation sparked the Linz SPÖ's refusal to sit on the local board in the face of "stumbling blocks". The refusal of the plaques, which are enshrined in the public space of the city to recall the victims of National Socialism, has aroused much criticism within the party of Mayor Klaus Luger. Stefan Giegler, chairman of the SPÖ local council group, issued a statement Sunday in which he explained the behavior.

"The SPÖ has never adopted an acclaim policy," Giegler immediately stressed, confirming what council observers had already speculated. The criticism of Israeli ambbadador Tayla Lador-Freshner in an interview with OÖNachrichten, according to which Linz, as the only city in the German-speaking world, does not allow the "stumbling blocks", have provoked the authors. This criticism was not a reason to implement this project, said Giegler referring to the city of Munich, in which this project was also rejected. The reason: there are other more effective forms to commemorate those murdered on an equal footing, said the politician Linz SP, president of the Jewish community of Munich and Upper Bavaria.

The Stumbling Blocks project is the work of only one artist, but there are many others. Therefore, Linz will build an urban project to commemorate persecuted and murdered Jews, according to Giegler.

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