Berlin's Jewish Memorial Halted

A Holocaust memorial in Berlin to Europe's 6 million murdered Jews was at the centre of huge embarrassment last night after it emerged that one of its German construction firms had supplied Zyklon B used in Nazi gas chambers.

The memorial's board of trustees ordered an abrupt halt to the project following revelations that the German company Degussa was connected with the supply of gas used in Nazi concentration camps. The firm had been awarded a contract to cover the memorial's 2,700 concrete pillars in a graffiti-proof coating.

Building work on the monument for the Murdered Jews of Europe - designed to express Germany's unique remorse for the Holocaust - began last month after years of controversy and delay. The site measuring 6,500 square feet is close to the Brandenburg Gate, the most famous symbol of German nationhood, and the Reichstag, Germany's parliament.

Late last week, however, the memorial's trustees discovered that Degussa was once a part of Degesch, the company which delivered Zyklon B used in concentration camps to gas millions of Jews. They ordered a temporary halt to the building work until another firm could be found instead. "We had to think about the feelings of the victims," one of the trustees, Lother C Poll said.

The president of Germany's association of murdered Jews, Lea Rosh, said she recognised that many German firms had helped the Nazis, but said in the case of Degussa and Zyklon B "a boundary had been crossed". The firm's order had been cancelled, she said. It was not clear when construction would resume, she added.

The idea for a Holocaust memorial predates the fall of the Berlin wall, though a plot was found only in 1993. The site the size of four football pitches is in the heart of Berlin in a deeply symbolic location between the Brandenburg Gate and the bunker in which Adolf Hitler died.

Germany's former chancellor Helmut Kohl vetoed the original plan for a 10,000 metre iron plate bearing the names of 4.5 million Jews. German MPs finally approved the final design four years ago.

Its architect Peter Eisenman has described the 2,700 concrete pillars of differing heights, which form the centrepiece of his memorial, as a waving cornfield. The design also includes an underground information centre, which will include biographies and photos of the dead. The first pillars were erected above ground last month. It was not clear last night whether they would now have to be taken away.

A spokesman for Degussa was unavailable for comment last night. The firm has previously expressed its remorse for its role during the Third Reich and has also made compensation payments to forced labourers who worked in Nazi factories.

Earlier this year the president of Germany's parliament Wolfgang Thierse said the memorial would express an "acceptance of responsibility for our history". Major building work on the 26m Euro (£18m) project was due to be completed at the end of next year but it was originally to be finished by 27 January 2004 - the 59th anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz.