The Austrian government has converted the building where Adolf Hitler was born into a police station, hoping to prevent neo-Nazis from visiting it as a pilgrimage site. The terraced house in Braunau am Inn was bought by the state in 2017, and renovation plans were announced in 2019.

The renovation cost approximately 20 million euros ($22.8 million). The new police station opened on Wednesday and will house officers from the district and local police forces.

At the opening ceremony, Mayor Johannes Waidbacher expressed hope that the transformation shows the local community is "confronting its history and assuming responsibility." Interior Minister Gerhard Karner also attended the event.

Stephan Mlczoch, head of the history department at the Austrian Interior Ministry, told reporters that the aim was to prevent any association with Hitler, stripping the building of its mystique. The Nazis had previously turned the house into an art museum.

Critics argue that changing the building's function will not erase its history. Robert Eiter of the Mauthausen Committee stated that the world won't forget where the worst mass murderer in history was born, and Wikipedia won't change its entries.

Some local residents are unhappy with the new purpose. Irene, 74, said she would have preferred a charity to remain there. Mayor Waidbacher noted that a charity would have made the building too accessible to the public.

A stone from the Mauthausen concentration camp remains on the pavement outside, inscribed with "Never again fascism." A "Police" sign has now been added.

Source: www.aljazeera.com