The building where Adolf Hitler was born in Braunau am Inn, Austria, officially begins its new life as a police station on Wednesday. The Austrian government believes this conversion will prevent the site from serving as a place of pilgrimage for neo-Nazis.
Authorities and politicians hope that the permanent police presence will deter far-right extremists from visiting the birthplace of the Nazi dictator. The government insisted that this move would clearly show that no commemoration of Nazism is acceptable and would effectively neutralise the site.
The renovation of the building has been surrounded by controversy. This debate highlights a larger continued need to remember history and confront the Nazi past.