My feeling has been that there was a failure to admit and face up to the truth for a long time, both among Germans and among others. Perhaps that was how it had to be because the truth was so terrible. Maybe denial of involvement by the older generation and by those who needed to work with them was the only way of getting on with life and rebuilding society.

It must have been very painful for young people growing up in the way Wolfgang described - the "mellow faces" with a history behind them that no one dares to examine too closely. I think I would feel the same as he does when he writes "I can better live with it when the past is not swept under the rug". The stumbling stones idea is very moving, an inspired idea - reminding people individually about individuals.

And those of us who are not German should always remember that the fact that our past is not shadowed in the same way is not our doing. It is something to be grateful for, not something about which we have any right to feel smug.