Four Germans were caught laying white roses in memory of Adolf Hitler at the house where the Nazi dictator was born in western Austria on the anniversary of his birth, and one gave a Hitler salute as they posed for photos, police have said.
Hitler was born on 20 April 1889 in Braunau am Inn. After lengthy wrangling over the future of the house where he was born, work started last year on turning it into a police station – a project meant to make it unattractive as a pilgrimage site.
On Monday, police in Upper Austria province said the four Germans – two sisters and their partners in their 20s and early 30s – went to the building on Saturday to lay white roses in its window recesses. They posed in front of the house for photos and one of the women gave the Hitler salute.
Patrolling officers noticed the group and took them to a police station for questioning. The woman said she had not meant the salute seriously, but officers said they found a chat with the others on her mobile phone in which they shared Nazi-themed messages and pictures.
Police said they were reporting all four to prosecutors on suspicion of violating the Austrian law that bans the symbols of nazism.