AUSTRIA TO SEIZE HITLER BIRTH HOUSE, MAY TEAR IT DOWN
Austria announced Tuesday it would take over and possibly destroy the house where Adolf Hitler was born to prevent right-wing extremists from using it as a pilgrimage site.
“The decision is necessary because Austria would like to prevent this house from becoming a ‘cult site’ for neo-Nazis in any way. It has been used repeatedly for this in the past, when people gathered there to shout (Nazi) slogans,” Interior Minister Wolfgang Sobotka said.
“It is my vision to tear down the house,” he added.
For years, the Austrian govern- ment rented the building in the western town of Braunau am Inn from a local retired woman for $5,332 a month, using it as a workshop for disabled people. The relationship between the landlord and the government deteriorated after she refused offers to sell the property and rejected ideas for future use, the government said.
On Tuesday, Austria’s parliament authorized the seizure of the property from its current owner under the country’s eminent domain laws. The owner now has no right to appeal the decision.
Although the German dictator’s family lived in the pale yellow building for only three years, the site has attracted right-wing extremists for decades paying homage to Hitler. Hitler’s Nazi Germany initiated World War II and killed millions of people, mostly Jews, during the Holocaust. Hitler killed himself in 1945.
Some disagree with Austria’s new plan. Vice Chancellor Reinhold Mitterlehner said the house had “educational value” and should converted into a museum to teach future generations about the dangers of extremism.