Austria has opened a police station inside the house where Adolf Hitler was born, transforming the property in an effort to prevent it from becoming a pilgrimage site for neo-Nazis.
The building’s conversion comes as Jewish communities across Europe continue to report high levels of antisemitism and growing concerns about their safety, Semafor reported.
A stone memorial outside the newly converted police station commemorates the millions of people murdered during the Holocaust. Austrian officials hope the building’s new purpose will discourage neo-Nazis from treating Hitler’s birthplace as a place to gather or pay tribute.
The move comes amid persistent antisemitism across Europe, including sharp increases reported by Jewish organizations following Hamas’ October 7, 2023, attack on Israel and the war in Gaza that followed.
A 2024 survey from the European Union Agency for Fundamental Rights (FRA) found that 80% of Jewish respondents believed antisemitism had increased in their country during the previous five years. Ninety percent said they had encountered antisemitism online during the year before the survey, while 37% said they had been harassed because they were Jewish.
The survey included nearly 8,000 Jewish people across 13 European Union countries, including Austria, France, and Germany. It was conducted between January and June 2023, before the October 7 attack, though the agency also collected more recent information from 12 Jewish community organizations.
Some of those organizations reported that antisemitic incidents had risen by more than 400% since October 2023, according to the agency.
The survey also found that many European Jews have changed how they live because of safety concerns. Seventy-six percent said they concealed their Jewish identity at least occasionally, while 34% said they avoided Jewish events or locations because they did not feel safe.
More than half of respondents said they worried about their own safety, and 60% expressed concern for the safety of their families. Three-quarters said they believed people held them responsible for the actions of the Israeli government simply because they were Jewish.
The agency said antisemitism affected Jewish people both online and in their daily lives. Fifty-six percent of respondents said they had encountered offline antisemitism from people they knew during the previous year, while 51% said they encountered it in the media.
The problem has remained particularly severe in several major European countries.
France recorded 1,320 antisemitic acts in 2025. Those incidents represented 53% of all anti-religious acts recorded in the country that year.
Although the number declined by 16% from the previous year, France’s Interior Ministry said antisemitic incidents had remained at historically high levels for three consecutive years. France is home to Europe’s largest Jewish community.
French President Emmanuel Macron called for stronger action against antisemitism during a February ceremony commemorating Ilan Halimi, a 23-year-old Jewish man who was kidnapped, tortured, and murdered in 2006.
Macron said schools, the justice system, and elected officials all needed to take part in confronting antisemitism. He also condemned online hatred and urged the European Commission to hold large technology platforms accountable for antisemitic content.
“In the France of the Enlightenment, ‘free speech’ stops at antisemitism and racism,” Macron said.
Other European countries have reported similarly high numbers.
Britain recorded 3,700 antisemitic incidents in 2025, a 4% increase from the year before and the second-highest annual total on record, according to data cited by Reuters.
Germany recorded 8,627 cases of antisemitism during the same year, nearly twice its previous total. The cases included violence, vandalism, and threats connected to the conflict in Gaza, Reuters reported.
The FRA has urged European governments to strengthen security for Jewish communities, improve the reporting and recording of antisemitic incidents, and ensure that national strategies against antisemitism receive adequate funding.
The agency has also called on online platforms to address illegal antisemitic content and comply with the European Union’s Digital Services Act.
“Europe is witnessing a wave of antisemitism, partly driven by the conflict in the Middle East,” FRA Director Sirpa Rautio said when the agency released its findings.
Against that backdrop, Austria’s decision to change Hitler’s birthplace into a police station is intended to prevent the property from becoming a gathering place for those seeking to celebrate or glorify the Nazi dictator.
Austria’s conversion of Hitler’s birthplace into a police station reflects an effort to prevent the property from becoming a pilgrimage site for neo Nazis as antisemitic incidents remain heightened across Europe.
.png)
.png)
