Hitler’s birthplace in Austria
to turn into police station
Braunau am Inn, Oct 2: Work started Monday on turning the house in Austria where Adolf Hitler was born in 1889 into a police station, a project meant to make it unattractive as a site of pilgrimage for people who glorify the Nazi dictator.
The decision on the future of the building in Braunau am Inn, a town on Austria’s border with Germany, was made in late 2019. Plans call for a police station, the district police headquarters and a security academy branch where police officers will get human rights training.
On Monday, workers put up fencing and started taking measurements for the construction work.The police are expected to occupy the premises in early 2026.
A years-long back-and-forth over the ownership of the house preceded the overhaul project.
The question was resolved in 2017 when Austria’s highest court ruled that the government was within its rights to expropriate the building after its owner refused to sell it. A suggestion it might be demolished was dropped.
The building had been rented by Austria’s Interior Ministry since 1972 to prevent its misuse, and was sublet to various charitable organisations. It stood empty after a care centre for adults with disabilities moved out in 2011.
A memorial stone with the inscription “for freedom, democracy and liberty. Never again facism. Millions of dead remind us” is to remain in place outside the house.
The Austrian government argues that having the police, as the guardians of civil liberties, move in is the best use for the building. But there has been criticism of the plan. (AP)
Ganesh festival celebrated in Seattle’s Redmond suburb
Washington, Oct 2: Indian Americans celebrated Ganesh festival in Redmond, the headquarters of Microsoft, with a 15-foot idol of Lord Ganesha affectionately named ‘Redmond Raja’ by the devotees.
Around 20,000 Indian Americans attended the event. The idol stood tall at the heart of Redmond’s downtown park, upon an opulent stage surrounded by decor reminiscent of a grand Indian palace.
Accompanying the idol was a mesmerizing dhol-tasha performance by more than 150 artists from the local troupe ‘Beats of Redmond,’ which has been organising the annual festival in this suburb of Seattle since 2019.
Beats of Redmond was founded by Deepali Sane and Anand Yeshwant Sane This idol was fashioned by skilled artisan Sushant in Mumbai, India, and transported to Redmond.
It was placed on a 40-foot grand stage and adorned the entire park in downtown Redmond, enduring the Pacific Northwest’s rain and cold. (PTI)
