Holocaust Memorial Architect in Anti-Semitic Flap

Peter Eisenman, the embattled U.S. architect of Berlin's Holocaust Memorial has offered to meet with the city's Jewish community following controversial comments he made recently. At a meeting of the trustees charged with building the memorial -- which is still under construction -- Eisenman supposedly joked that his dentist asked him if his gold fillings were produced by Degussa, a German firm that supplied cyanide tablets for the Nazi gas chambers, and should, therefore, be removed. Eisenman was making reference to the controversy that arose when Degussa was hired to provide a protective chemical coating for the memorial. The comments outraged some, including Albert Meyer, who heads the board of trustees overseeing the construction of the memorial. Though a date has not yet been set for the meeting, it may take place at the end of May when the architect is in town to meet with the board. Eisenman has gone on the defensive. "I won't step down, that is simply not in my nature," he told the German television station 3sat.