'Arbeit Macht Frei' inscription was stolen from Auschwitz

[michael mills]

In case any of you have not noticed, the Auschwitz Museum had already manufactured a replica, which has been taken out of storage and mounted in place of the original.

I wonder if anyone could tell which is the original and which the replica.

Apparently the police believe that the daring heist was commissioned by a collector.

[David Thompson]

I wonder if anyone could tell which is the original and which the replica.

This comment has to nothing to do with the topic. Stay on subject or stay off posting.

[Karl]

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[Hecht]

Frankly I wonder why it has taken so long to get ripped off - sitting out there and all and its not hard to see motives no matter how strange - and that this was still the original. Anyway, if this was for a collection: what a creepy guy.

It wasn't ripped off for sure.
Too valuable.
On the WAF many collecting guys said that was stolen on order, and I totally agree.

[Kurn]

Several news outlets are reporting the sign has been found.

[David Thompson]

Polish police find stolen Auschwitz gate sign
(AP) – 38 minutes ago

WARSAW, Poland — Police said early Monday that they have found the infamous "Arbeit Macht Frei" sign that was stolen on Friday from the gate of the former Nazi death camp of Auschwitz.

Police spokeswoman Katarzyna Padlo said that the sign was found in northern Poland. She said police also detained five men aged between 25 and 39 who are being transported them to Krakow for questioning.

Padlo said the steel sign, which symbolizes to the world the atrocities and cruelty of Nazi Germany, has been cut into three pieces.

The sign that topped a main gate at the Auschwitz memorial site was stolen before dawn on Friday. State authorities made finding it a priority and appealed to all Poles for assistance.

More than 1 million people, mostly Jews, died at Auschwitz which Nazi Germany built in occupied Poland during World War II.

http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/art ... AD9CNBR582

[jola]

The police found the sign near the city of Thorn, Reichsgau Danzig-Westpreussen.

[Phil Nix]

The police found the sign near the city of Thorn, Reichsgau Danzig-Westpreussen.

In three pieces
Phil Nix

[Hecht]

The police found the sign near the city of Thorn, Reichsgau Danzig-Westpreussen.

In three pieces
Phil Nix

Yes, just to move it in an easier way in my opinion, but not ripped to pieces.
Some sources are talking about a steal on order.

[ihoyos]

There is a similar sign in Dachau. does any body knwos who invented that phrase?

[herveus]

There is a similar sign in Dachau. does any body knwos who invented that phrase?

From Wikipedia:

"Arbeit macht frei" is a German phrase with the word-for-word meaning of "Work Makes Free", which can be translated as "labour liberates." The slogan is well-known for being placed at the entrances to a number of Nazi concentration camps.

In 1872 the German nationalist author Lorenz Diefenbach used the expression "Arbeit macht frei" as the title for a novel, causing the expression to become well-known in German nationalist circles. It was adopted in 1928 by the Weimar government as a slogan extolling the effects of their desired policy of large-scale public works programmes to end unemployment, and perhaps mocking the Medieval saying "Stadtluft macht frei" ("City air brings freedom"). It was continued in this usage by the NSDAP when it came to power in 1933.

The slogan "Arbeit macht frei" was placed at the entrances to a number of Nazi concentration camps. Although it was common practice in Germany to post inscriptions of this sort at entrances to institutional properties and large estates, the slogan's use in this instance was ordered by SS General Theodor Eicke.

[Musashi]

The police found the sign near the city of Thorn, Reichsgau Danzig-Westpreussen.

In three pieces
Phil Nix

Yes, just to move it in an easier way in my opinion, but not ripped to pieces.
Some sources are talking about a steal on order.

According to the Polish press the inscription was stolen on a Swedish citizen's order and the plates were ready to be transported to Sweden via ferry. Each of the three thieves was to be given 10,000-30,000 euros for the stolen inscription. It needs to be established if the Swedish citizen was an employer or just a middleman.
In Polish:
http://wiadomosci.gazeta.pl/Wiadomosci/ ... l?skad=rss

[tom_deba]

The police found the sign near the city of Thorn, Reichsgau Danzig-Westpreussen.

Jola, where was it found?

[ChristopherPerrien]

The police found the sign near the city of Thorn, Reichsgau Danzig-Westpreussen.

Jola, where was it found?

, "And the South will rise again!"

[Helly Angel]

, "And the South will rise again!"

LOL!!!! cheers all!