Auschwitz sign found
The sign that hung at the entrance to the Auschwitz concentration camp was found on Sunday night in northern Poland cut into three pieces. Five men have been arrested in connection with the theft.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.I will update this post when I know more.
Another police spokesman, Dariusz Nowak, said the 16-foot (5-meter) sign, made of hollow steel, was found cut into three pieces, each containing one of the words. The cruelly ironic phrase means ''Work Sets You Free'' and ran completely counter to the purpose of Auschwitz, which began as a concentration camp for political prisoners during the Nazi occupation of Poland and evolved into an extermination camp where Jews were gassed to death in factory-like fashion.
The police refused to divulge any details of the circumstances in which the sign was found or to speculate on the motive of the perpetrators. They were expected to disclose more at a news conference in Krakow planned for 0800 GMT (3 a.m. EST) Monday.
UPDATE 11:33 AM
Israel Radio reports that Polish police have said that the thieves stole the sign for pecuniary rewards and do not belong to any neo-Nazi groups.
But what about the people who paid them to steal it?
posted by Carl in Jerusalem @ 10:54 AM
1 Comments:
I was angry bout the sign until I told my friend, who is a survivor of Auschwitz/ Bergen Belsen. She didn't blink an eye and was slightly amused. As I pushed her out the door in her wheelchair she quoted the sign, 'Arbiet Mach Frei' and stated wryly, "Look how free I am."
The reverence and money spent on the Holocaust is verging on idolatry while history is rewinding.
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