The Austrian house in which Adolf Hitler was born is finally coming down to end its role as a shrine for neo-Nazis.
Interior Minister Wolfgang Sobotka said that a committee of experts decided that the former guesthouse in Braunau am Inn should be demolished, leaving the foundation. A new structure will house administrative or possibly charitable organizations.
There has been substantial debate over whether is should have been destroyed. Matters were complicated when the owner, Ms. Pommer, who is at present paid $5,300 a month, refused to sell. The three-storey house has been vacant for the past five years since Pommer did not allow renovation work.
Parliament has yet to endorse the demolition since a legal amendment proposed earlier this year, permitting authorities to seize the property, is still in progress.
The decision will probably not meet with the approval of the community. Some wish to see the building become a center for refugees, while others want it to become a museum to remember Austria’s release from the Nazi regime. A group of cultural associations against the demolition believes it should be saved because it is a part of the historic city center, BBC News reported.
During the Nazi period, the house became a shrine to Hitler, attracting waves of tourists. Even though successive governments have attempted to thwart neo-Nazis sympathizers from paying homage, they still arrive.
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