The two streets in Adolf Hitler’s hometown in Austria should be renamed following years of complaints that they commemorate the Nazis, officials say.
According to local media, the Braunau am Inn council took the decision after a “secret vote” on Wednesday. It concluded that maintaining the name was unconstitutional following reports commissioned by local governments.
The street is named after composer Josef Reiter and entertainer Franz Rettle. Both were members of the Nazi Party.
After the name is changed, approximately 200 households will obtain a new address.
The Austrian government has long been criticized by historians for its way of acknowledging its role in World War II, particularly for its establishment as a victim rather than a participant.
The move to rename the street was hailed by the Mauthausen Committee as a “decision with symbolic importance.” Between 1938 and 1945, at least 90,000 prisoners were killed by the Nazis in the Mautausen concentration camp in northern Austria.
Committee chair Willi Melney told local media that he “worked so hard for this”, thanking everyone who supported them.
Committee member Robert Eighter joined the resistance while working as a head nurse at Auschwitz strength camp in Poland with former vice mayor Lee Ortzak, whose father died in Mautausen.
Many streets in Austria have already been renamed for the Nazi Association, which includes honoring Ferdinand Porsche, the founder of the city’s luxury automobile company, but remain 80 years after the end of the war.
Around 65,000 Austrian Jews were killed in the Holocaust when the Nazi Party, led by Adolf Hitler, worked to eradicate the Jewish population in Europe and the Slavic and Roman populations.
During the war, the Nazi regime systematically killed more than six million Jews.
