German town bans 'stumbling stone' memorials to Nazi victims

"Stumbling stone" memorials - like the one pictured in the Netherlands - are often placed in memory of Jews and other victims of the Holocaust

There has been a wave of criticism in Germany after the town of Heidenau, near Dresden in Saxony, decided to ban "stumbling stone" memorials to victims of the Nazis.

Germany's Education Minister Karin Prien told newspaper Bild that the ban was a "scandal".

Since the 1990s, many towns in countries across Europe, including in Germany and Austria, have embedded small brass plaques in the streets in memory of Jews and other victims of Nazi atrocities.

The plaques, called Stolpersteine in German, are often placed outside the houses where the victims used to live or work. They are frequently funded by donations.