Björn Höcke, a member of Germany’s anti-immigrant AfD (Alternative for Germany) made a speech calling Berlin’s stark “Memorial to the Murdered Jews of Europe” a “monument of shame” and suggested Germany’s official policy of recognizing and repudiating the horrors of the holocaust needed a “180 degree turn”.
The Berlin based Art Collective Center for Political Beauty disagreed and showed their displeasure by recreating the Memorial….
...next to his house.
“Philipp Ruch, one of the organizers of the project, told the Frankfurter Rundschau newspaper that the group was planning to keep the slabs in place for at least two years. “He should enjoy the view every day when he looks out the window,” Ruch said, adding that the “monument of shame” had been turned 180 degrees to better suit Höcke's taste.
The activists say the slabs would be removed only if Höcke agrees to falling on his knees and begging for forgiveness in front of the Memorial to the Murdered Jews of Europe in Berlin. That requirement is itself an homage: Then-Chancellor Willy Brandt unexpectedly dropped to his knees during a 1970 visit to a memorial commemorating the Warsaw Ghetto uprising.
Höcke, who appears to have been spotted on his property looking at the memorial, has not indicated whether he will meet that condition. Jörg Meuthen, AfD's chairman, said that the memorial was “distasteful” and that his party would do everything to ensure that “these so-called artists are held accountable,” according to the Tagesspiegel newspaper.”
Phillip Ruch and his fellow artists activists…
….have no plans to move the “distasteful” object from Höcke’s view.
They have raised $68,000 to keep paying rent on the lot next to his home.
Well done.