Anti-extremism center opens in former house of Auschwitz commandant Rudolf Höss

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OSWIECIM, Poland (AP) — A U.S.-based organization is transforming the house of Auschwitz commandant Rudolf Höss into a research center devoted to fighting extremism, and is introducing it to the public on the 80th anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz on Monday.

The house, which belonged to a Polish military family before Nazi Germany’s invasion of Poland, lies next to the site of the former death camp, now the Auschwitz-Birkenau State Museum.

“My dream, and those of our colleagues, is that every visitor, every fellow, every academic that comes here takes action to fight extremism and antisemitism wherever they come from," said Mark Wallace, the CEO of the Counter Extremism Project.

His group bought the house from a private family and is creating the Auschwitz Center on Hate, Extremism and Radicalization in the house. It opened its doors to reporters on the eve of the anniversary commemorations, showing them the rooms in the three-story house that still need to be renovated.

The project is being launched in partnership with the Auschwitz-Birkenau Museum and under the patronage of UNESCO. Prominent architect Daniel Libeskind is also a collaborator.

The house was featured in the Oscar-winning film “The Zone of Interest,” which depicts the life of Höss, his wife Hedwig and their five children in the house just next to the concentration camp.

As commandant from 1940 to 1944, Höss orchestrated the industrial-scale slaughter at the camp, where gas was used to murder Jews. He was tried by a Polish court and was executed by hanging at the site of the concentration camp in 1947.

The Auschwitz-Birkenau State Museum is holding observances on Monday for the 80th anniversary of the liberation of the camp by Soviet forces.