Auschwitz 'Arbeit Macht Frei' Sign Stolen

Polish police find stolen Auschwitz gate sign

Polish police recover Auschwitz gate sign - Europe- msnbc.com

 

As Skipper said there is no place for these guy's to sell it. It could only go to the underground collectors who purchased a lot of stolen artifacts from Iraq after the museums were looted during the invasion. Very few item's from those museums have popped up. I just don't understand the point to have such a rare item blowing in the wind. When they have a duplicate anyway. These nuts today stop at nothing place it under lock and key. To many battlefields and monuments have been looted. Even with just replacement pieces. Gettysburg had gun barrels attached to the statues and those were pried off back in the late 90s. Since then Sherman tanks that sit in parks have had what is'nt bolted down pried off. Just plain sad that what has been fought for is'nt respected.

 

I know what you mean. In the largest "city" east of my little home town, they have a "Long Tom", a Minute Man missile (replica), and a Sherman all sitting in a park They have had to put them behind fences these days. Those were "sheilded" not to keep people from stealing things off of them, but to keep parents who let their kids play on them and "hurting" themselves from suing the city.

Over in the Lewistown MT. cemetary last year, some punks put a chain around a WW1 VFW memorial and pulling it all weird. It had a Browning watercooled MG cemented in and a bronze plaque with the names of the local boys who died in France on it. It is being repaired, but the Browning isn't going to be replaced. The story in the local paper was that to do so made the memorial too tempting to the vandal crowd! Sad commentary.

 

good news update!

WARSAW, Poland – Polish police found the infamous "Arbeit Macht Frei" sign that was stolen from the gate of the former Nazi death camp of Auschwitz after an intensive three-day hunt and arrested five suspects, police said early Monday. The sign was found cut into three pieces.

Police spokeswoman Katarzyna Padlo told The Associated Press that the sign was found Sunday night in northern Poland, the other end of the country from the southern Polish town where the Auschwitz memorial museum is located and where it disappeared before dawn Friday.

Padlo said police detained five men between the ages of 25 and 39 and took them for questioning to Krakow, which is the regional command of the area that includes the Auschwitz museum.

See:

Polish police retrieve damaged Auschwitz gate sign - Yahoo! News

 

I would just as soon see the sign put into storage and replaced with a sign which reads "Never Again."

 

I'm right there with you pal. I am glad to hear that the vandal have been caught.

 

Now put those thieves in the camp for one year to teach people what happened there. That should be a lesson for them...

 

Good news and I wanted to be the first one to tell you . They found it back (in 3 pieces) ! I just heard on the news they got the sign back and that five youngsters were arrested!!

BBC News - Police in Poland find sign stolen from Auschwitz gate

 

And more with pics......Stolen Auschwitz sign Arbeit macht frei turns up hundreds of miles away cut into three pieces | Mail Online

 

A shame it was cut up but hopefully they can repair it, I agree with the original points brought up by some that a duplicate should be put up with the real sign being put away inside the museum for viewing. As the years move on such activities will become popular in my opinion, be it the concentration camps in Poland or the prisoner of war camp in your own backyard.

 

This is 100% rumour I believe but here it is anyway:

"Polish radio reported on Tuesday that the arbeit macht frei (work makes you free) sign that was stolen from the Auschwitz concentration camp earlier this week was headed for Sweden. The suspected thieves planned on smuggling the metal sign on a ferry to Sweden, according to a report by Polish state radio Tuesday.

According to the report, the sign was destined for a Swedish citizen. It remains unclear whether or not the Swede was a middle man or the person who commissioned the theft. The Polish police declined comment and would not confirm or deny the report."

 

Have you heard if there is an truth behind that rumour Kai?

 

No confrmation so take this in te conditionnal. It wouldn't surprise me that a rich private collector from abroad might have master-minded this and sent a bunch of idiots to steal the sign. What's a fact is that all of them had already been arrested for theft and some have been to jail. There is apparently no politics in the misdeed, "just" the greed of a sick rich collector. Both Poland and Sweden being in the E.U, it's easy to smuggle merchandise from one country to another.

 

It gets more interesting with allegations of neo nazi plots in Sweden:

Police doubt Swedish ties to Auschwitz theft - The Local

 

Yes I agree, I'm very glad the police found the sign.

 

Does Auschwitz have survellance equipment or guards or is there anything new they are doing to stop future theives? You would think just what happened there would be enough to scare anyone from stealing anything. Since it is sacred ground like a church. But that does'nt seem to stop anyone anymore.

 

I am glad the sign was found. It really did break my heart to find out that someone had stolen the sign. Hopefully no more of these kind of disgusting crimes will ever happen again.

 

If it ever made it to ebay, I would NOT bid on it.

Those folks that stole the sign should be allowed to stay inside Auschwitz for a few years and live the way the sign is read; "Works Makes Freedom".

 

Same to me..