House of Responsibility

The House of Responsibility (abbreviated to HRB, ) in was the idea of establishing an international meeting place and a place of learning in the birth-house of Adolf Hitler. People from all countries, backgrounds, religions and cultures were intended to meet in order to discuss, learn and develop projects revolving around the concept of responsibility relating to the dimensions of past, present and future. The main demographic was to be young people. The idea for the House of Responsibility originated from the founder of the and chairman of the Austrian Service Abroad, Andreas Maislinger.

Conceptual background The conceptual challenge surrounding the birth-house of Adolf Hitler roots in the fact that it is neither a perpetrator's site, such as the , the Brown House or the ; nor is it a victim's site, such as Auschwitz, Mauthausen or Hartheim, since Adolf Hitler was merely born in it and lived there for only two months as an infant. Nothing relating to the Holocaust was ever consciously decided or done in the house where he was born.

Nevertheless, the house is a place of symbolic meaning, a symbol of the birth of the Holocaust, for some a symbol for the birth of evil. The challenge posed was how to commemorate a place that is merely a symbol.

The House of Responsibility was about the creation of another symbol: a counter-symbol with the opposite meaning of what the birth of Adolf Hitler signifies. The House of Responsibility intended and envisioned turning the symbol of the birth of the Holocaust into a symbol of responsibility, learning, peace and creativity while concurrently turning the city of into a city representing the same values.What will happen to the Hitler-Haus

The House of Responsibility was to be based on the infrastructure and community of the Austrian Service Abroad and its worldwide partner organizations.

Origins: Braunau sets a sign After the (Austrian Freedom Party) took part in the government under Jörg Haider in early 2000, the started to collect signatures under the slogan "" ().Austrian Town of Hitler's Birth Aims to Transform 'the Burden' , Paul Watson, Los Angeles Times (January 13, 2001)Impossible to Deny (Frankfurter Rundschau Online, February 10, 2001) Andreas Maislinger, an Austrian historian and founder of the and Braunau Contemporary History Days, reacted to the call and suggested setting up a House of Responsibility in the house where Adolf Hitler was born.History as responsibility - House of Responsibility

Past – Present – Future The presented the idea of Andreas Maislinger on 4 May 2000:

Philosophical basis for this project is the book () written by Hans Jonas in 1979.

Realisation The project could not be realized in the following years but the idea of taking responsibility remained.Hitler's Birthplace Still Struggles With Burden of History (Deutsche Welle, September 14, 2006) In 2005, the owner of a house close to where Hitler was born offered his house for the project. In 2002, members of the remembered the Austrian Righteous Among the Nations in front of Hitler's birth house.Braunau's mayor Gerhard Skiba, AHMS-founder Andreas Maislinger and young Austrians commemorated the Austrian Righteous (gedenkdienst.org) In October 2009, mayor Gerhard Skiba argued for the first time in support of a 'House of Peace' or 'House of Responsibility' in Hitler's birthhouse in Austria's newspaper .What Will Hitler’s House of Birth Become? (Georg Markus) , October 11, 2009

In the first half of 2014, the HRB gained increasing support by the public and by acknowledged international organizations such as the Anti-Defamation League in New York, the Auschwitz Jewish Center in Oswiecim, the European Roma Rights Center and the John Rabe and International Safety Zone Memorial Hall in Nanjing.Posting of the official Facebook-Site of HRB about the support of the John Rabe and Internationals Safety Zone Memorial Hall in Nanjing

On 2 June 2020, the Austrian Minister of Interior announced plans for the Austrian police to move into the birthplace of Adolf Hitler. The Austrian Service Abroad opposed this decision and lobbied against it.

On 22 July 2026, a police station was inaugurated in Adolf Hitler's birthplace. The website for the idea of the House of Responsibility has since been out of service.

Supporting individuals Argentina Erika Rosenberg Austria Mina Ahadi, Martha Bißmann, Emil Brix, Erhard Busek, Alfred Dorfer, Klaus Eberhartinger, Valie Export, Franz Fischler, Alfred Gusenbauer, Josef Hader, André Heller, Ludwig Laher, Thomas Maurer, Cornelius Obonya, Florian Scheuba, Danielle Spera, Dirk Stermann, Ferdinand Trauttmansdorff Brazil Alberto Dines China Pan Guang France Michel Cullin, Beate Klarsfeld Germany Aleida AssmannAleida Assmann support declaration for the House of Responsibility Markus Ferber, Stefan Klein Hungary György Dalos, Paul Lendvai Israel Ben Segenreich, Moshe Zimmermann Japan Sven Saaler New Zealand Chris Harris CEO of Holocaust Museum of New Zealand Poland Wladyslaw Bartoszewski Russia Ilya Altman South Africa Tali Nates Tali Nates, Founder and Executive Director Johannesburg Holocaust & Genocide Centre Sweden Gerald Nagler Switzerland Beat Wyss Ukraine Borys Sabarko United Kingdom Ladislaus Löb United States Abraham Foxman, Branko Lustig, Jack Kliger Jack Kliger, CEO of Museum of Jewish Heritage New York

Supporting organizations and institutions Poland Auschwitz Jewish Center Auschwitz Jewish Center supports House of Responsibility USA Anti-Defamation League Ukraine Past / Future / Art Belgium European Roma Rights Center

House of Responsibility

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