Berlin
Work on the Holocaust memorial in Berlin was temporarily stopped this week amid revelations that one of the construction firms had supplied the gas for Nazi death chambers. Degussa, a chemical company that was going to cover the monument’s concrete pillars with a graffiti-proof coating, was affiliated with Degesch, the now-defunct company that delivered Zyklon B to Auschwitz. The memorial’s trustees quickly revoked Degussa’s contract and found another firm to deliver the coating. The memorial was begun only last month, after more than 10 years of debate and delays. When completed, it will consist of 2,700 concrete pillars spread out over 6,000 square feet in central Berlin, near the Brandenburg Gate.
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
-
Pope seeks inquiry on if Gaza assault is 'genocide'Speed Read In a book for the Jubilee 2025, Pope Francis considers whether Israel's war in Gaza meets the legal definition of 'genocide'
-
Can Europe pick up the slack in Ukraine?Today's Big Question Trump's election raises questions about what's next in the war
-
Biden allows Ukraine to hit deep in RussiaSpeed Read The U.S. gave Ukraine the green light to use ATACMS missiles supplied by Washington, a decision influenced by Russia's escalation of the war with North Korean troops
