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NEWS
Berlin Memorial Needs Renovation
by Yated Ne'eman Staff
The Berlin Holocaust Memorial, a 27-million-euro project
whose centerpiece is thousands of cement slabs in the heart
of Berlin inaugurated just two years ago, is already in need
of repairs. Cracks have begun to appear in 393 of the 2,711
blocks of cement. The site director says the cracks, some of
which are several meters long, do not threaten the integrity
of the blocks, but that they should be repaired quickly
before winter arrives. The site will remain open during the
repair work.
The memorial, which draws some three million visitors
annually, consists of a field of cement blocks of varying
heights that are supposed to suggest gravestones. The site is
located in a very expensive part of the city near the
Brandenburg gate and the Reichstag, as well as the bunker
where Hitler committed suicide at the end of World War II.
Finalizing the design took many years. The construction of
the memorial was preceded by numerous debates regarding the
materials to be used to preserve the cement blocks against
graffiti and the site has proven to attract antisemites
seeking to sully it. Another debate arose surrounding the
fact the coating material was manufactured by a German
company that used forced Jewish labor during the Holocaust.
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