As the lion's share of WWII European memorials are centered on the war's victims, it is not surprising that contemporary memorials employ a different artistic vocabulary, which despite being varied and multifarious, consists of several common metaphors/symbols such as mirrors, public benches and manipulated street signs. Once this grammar is employed in 'counter-monuments,' which are dispersed in various urban spaces, it forces the pedestrians to take an active part in the commemorative process; their image is reflected in see-through memorials; they puzzle whether they may sit on certain public-benches and how to 'follow' intriguing street sign directives. Thus their role is transformed from passive 'onlookers' into the protagonists, who are compelled to participate in the processes of the past’s reconstructions.
The purpose of this paper is to present the use of the new remembrance vocabulary in contemporary German 'counter-memorials' and to analyze its subversive dialogue with the public space's role during the Nazi regime, which not only shaped public opinion but also served as the main arena of the decrees/laws which the 'undesirable' were forced to obey. Thus, part of those memorials, despite being commissioned by official authorities, form an iconographic/linguistic bond with contemporary Street Art, which undermines and challenges the way society restricts itself to authority's rules and regulations.
