Germany to Sell Unfinished Nazi Resort

Germany's parliamentary budget committee agreed on Thursday to sell a partially built complex on the Baltic Sea coast that the Nazi regime intended to use as a massive resort. The committee voted by a large majority to approve the sale of the Prora complex to Kurt Meyer, the owner of a private museum and the only bidder, who will pay €339,917 ($450,000) for the property, according to an unnamed source. Prora was a product of the Nazis' "Strength Through Joy" program which aimed to bolster the regime's popularity by offering ordinary Germans subsidized leisure activities. Construction started in 1935 on the complex which was meant to provide lodging for 20,000 people in small rooms that all faced the water but was suspended after World War II broke out in 1939. After the war, communist East Germany's army took over the complex, which remained off limits to the public for decades.