Reclaiming House 88: Transforming a Symbol of Nazi Evil into a Center for Education and Action

House 88, the former residence of Auschwitz commandant Rudolf Höss, has long stood as a symbol of hate and evil. While the horrors of the Holocaust can never be erased, entrepreneur and philanthropist Elliott Broidy is one of the leaders of an initiative to reclaim the space as a center for education and hope.

Broidy, along with Dr. Thomas Kaplan, co-chair The Fund to End Antisemitism, Extremism, and Hate. The pair were enlisted by former U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations for Reformation, Mark D. Wallace, the founder of the Counter Extremism Project (CEP), to spearhead the fundraising for the new Auschwitz Research Center on Hate, Extremism, and Radicalization: ARCHER at House 88.

On January 27, 2025—International Holocaust Remembrance Day and the 80th anniversary of Auschwitz’s liberation—Broidy and Kaplan officially launched the fundraising campaign.

“This is a call to action,” Broidy told GlobeNewswire. “Our fundraising efforts are critical to ensuring that this initiative succeeds in its mission to create a world free from extremism.”

In 2024, the Oscar-winning feature film “The Zone of Interest” brought renewed attention to the Höss residence, depicting the commandant and his wife Hedwig living mere steps away from the concentration camp. The film starkly contrasts the serene facade of their home and life with harrowing imagery of possessions left behind by murdered Jews and the haunting sounds of gunshots and screams.

This increased public attention placed unwanted scrutiny on the Polish family who had lived in the house since its post-war sale in 1945, creating the perfect opportunity for CEP, with the help of Broidy and Kaplan, to purchase the residence at 88 Legionów Street in Oświęcim, Poland, just outside the Auschwitz compound. The goal: to repurpose the site, transforming it into an educational center dedicated to combating antisemitism and extremism.

The ARCHER initiative not only honors the victims of the Holocaust and acknowledges its horrors but also serves as a place to plan and implement strategies to combat antisemitism, including doing research to discover the networks that are funding protests and disrupting them through lawfare, legislation, exposure and other means, creating a database that collects the social media sites spreading extremism and notifying content moderators and advocating for their removal, and creating Ph.D. and academic fellowships both at the center and at other locations around the world to determine ways to create the freedom for a more balanced, nuanced and fair representation of Israel on college campuses and in the media

Elie Wiesel’s initial request that the world “Never Forget” must be replaced by his statement during his acceptance speech at the 1986 Nobel Prize ceremony: “Sometimes we must interfere.” For Broidy, interference means actions to force recognition of the serious dangers of extremism, in all its forms, to every society. Converting a space long associated with the darkest chapter in Jewish history into a center representative of change is a powerful step toward a more just and informed future.

“I cannot imagine a more symbolic form of justice for the millions of lives lost at the hands of the Nazis than turning what was once a breeding ground for evil into a space that fights against those very ideas,” said Broidy.

ARCHER will focus on scholarly research, policy development, and public education to combat antisemitism. The initiative is actively seeking additional support to expand its programs and reach, ensuring that House 88 becomes a lasting force in the fight against hate.

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