Holocaust Memorials Reduce Xenophobic Voting

Do Holocaust memorials lead voters away from far-right, xenophobic parties? Memory policies are motivated by the belief that acknowledging atrocities can foster tolerance. However, existing evidence is contradictory, and the effects of exposure to memorials on political behavior remain an open question. We study this question in the context of the gradual implementation of stumbling blocks---the world's largest decentralized memorial honoring Holocaust victims with personalized brass plates outside their last known homes. We collect the geolocation of all stumbling blocks installed across the city of Berlin, and combine it with fine-grained election data over seven elections. Difference-in-differences models show that the Holocaust memorials lead to a decrease in support for the far-right and explicitly xenophobic party Alternative for Germany. Effect sizes are particularly large when memorials also inform about the execution of a victim, pointing to grief as a likely causal mechanism. The evidence suggests that memorials can successfully engender tolerance, reducing the vote share of far-right parties.