May 10, 2005
Source: BBC News
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/4531669.stm
On May 10, 2005 BBC News reported, "German politicians and Jewish leaders have marked 60 years since the end of World War II by officially opening Berlin's vast Holocaust memorial. The Monument to the Murdered Jews of Europe is a sprawling field of 2,700 stone slabs near the Brandenburg Gate. The dedication comes after years of delays and disagreements over design and construction issues. Backers of the memorial say the stones will be central to Berlin's identity, but critics say it is too abstract. Others have criticised Berlin, capital of the Third Reich, for taking so long to erect a fitting memorial to its victims."