Hitler’s birth house could be demolished, says Austrian minister
Interior minister says having the house where Adolf Hitler was born destroyed could be 'the cleanest solution.'
Austria’s interior minister says he can imagine having the house where Adolf Hitler was born demolished, calling it “the cleanest solution.”
The Austrian government wants to expropriate the house in Braunau am Inn on the German border where the future Nazi leader was born in 1889 to ensure that it does not become a place of pilgrimage for neo-Nazis.
The Interior Ministry has rented the house since 1972 to prevent its misuse, sub-letting it to various charitable organisations.
The building has stood empty since a care centre for adults with disabilities moved out in 2011.
Interior minister Wolfgang Sobotka told ORF television that the expropriation is “necessary.” He said that “we have tried to clear up all possibilities for using it and buying it with the owner, but with no results.”
“For me, a demolition … would be the cleanest solution,” Mr Sobotka said.
Mr Sobotka’s ministry described that view as the minister’s personal opinion and said it would have to be clarified whether the demolition is legally feasible, the Austria Press Agency reported.
A commission of historians is to consider the future of the house.
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