Hitler’s Austrian Birthplace Will Now Become Home to a Good Cause

Adolf Hitler‘s Austrian birthplace will be converted into the headquarters for a disability charity after a heated debate over what to do with the property, officials said Thursday.

Many had previously asked that the government demolish the home in the town of Braunau to prevent it from becoming a Neo-Nazi gathering place. But officials decided that keeping it intact and using it for a charity would be “a life-affirming message” and “a clear symbol against the crimes committed by Hitler,” according to a statement from Interior Minister Wolfgang Sobotka, Braunau mayor Johannes Waidbacher and provincial governor Josef Puehringer provided to the BBC.

The repurposing of the building will happen against the wishes of the property’s owner who had refused to sell the property or renovate along the lines that the government had wanted. She will be compensated for the government seizure of the building, according to reports.