Austria's Parliament Has Passed a Law Allowing it To Seize Hitler's Birth Home
Fearing it could become a neo-Nazi shrine or place of pilgramage, the Austrian government for years has been maneuvering to keep Hitler’s birth home in the town of Braunau am Inn from falling into the wrong hands. Since 1972, Austria has been paying a woman named Gerlinde Pommer, the house’s rightful owner who has refused to sell it, about $5,000 a month to make sure the building, which has been empty for half a decade, doesn’t take on some form of nostalgia for Hitler, as it was during Nazi rule.
This week, the government passed a law allowing its seizure, reported the BBC, but it remains unclear what will actually happen to the building: Will it be razed or turned, yet again, into something useful, like a museum or school?