Austria to dispossess owner of house where Hitler was born

VIENNA / AP

Austria’s Interior Ministry says the government has drawn up a draft law that would dispossess the owner of the house where Adolf Hitler was born.
This move follows steadfast refusal by house owner Gerlinde Pommer to sell the empty building in the town of Braunau am Inn on the German border. The government has sought ownership so it can take measures to lessen its attraction as a shrine for admirers of the Nazi dictator.
The draft still has to be approved by parliament, where the government is in the majority and can rely on the support of most opposition parties.
Ministry spokesman Karl-Heinz Grundboeck says he expects a parliament vote sometime this year. Government considerations range from tearing down the house to making it into a museum documenting Nazi horrors.