Nazi sign stolen from Auschwitz gates

**Brian Foley** · 12-18-09, 10:28 AM

Nazi sign stolen from Auschwitz gates

Israeli deputy PM Silvan Shalom, seen here on April 21 2009, stands in front of the sign that was stolen from Auschwitz.
(CNN) -- A sign synonymous with the Nazi work camps of World War II was stolen overnight from the Auschwitz Concentration Camp memorial in Poland, police said Friday.

Police were "alerted at 5 a.m. local time on Friday by museum guards" that the infamous sign reading "Arbeit Macht Frei" -- "Work Sets You Free" in German -- was stolen, according to police spokeswoman Agnieszka Szczygiel.

The heavy iron sign "was removed by being unscrewed on one side and pulled off on the other," Szczygiel said. "It is also believed that this was a planned event and that several people were involved as the sign was at remarkable height."
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Israel needed it to hang over Gaza.

**S.A.M.** · 12-18-09, 10:48 AM

I'm surprised they still had the original sign up, scrap metal is being stolen everywhere. Last when I was in the US, General Lafayette was missing his sword for the same reason.

**Orleander** · 12-18-09, 03:27 PM

I bet some Nazi skin head nut stole it for 'sentimental' reasons no scrap

**spidergoat** · 12-18-09, 03:29 PM

Originally Posted by Orleander

I bet some Nazi skin head nut stole it for 'sentimental' reasons no scrap

Yep. I'm surprised they kept the real thing hanging there. I would have made a replica and put the real thing in a museum.

**Orleander** · 12-18-09, 03:30 PM

I'm surprised there weren't cameras!

**spidergoat** · 12-18-09, 04:03 PM

Or armed guards with machine guns and electrified fences...

**S.A.M.** · 12-18-09, 10:59 PM

Originally Posted by Orleander

I bet some Nazi skin head nut stole it for 'sentimental' reasons no scrap

I doubt it, for the simple reason that it was unscrewed at one end and broken off at the other. Although, it would probably fetch a million in the black market.

**River Ape** · 12-19-09, 03:07 PM

Why is the B upside down?

**Repo Man** · 12-19-09, 03:32 PM

Originally Posted by River Ape

Why is the B upside down?

Unreliable slave laborers?

**Dywyddyr** · 12-19-09, 03:35 PM

"Stylish" typography probably.

**Orleander** · 12-19-09, 03:35 PM

Originally Posted by Repo Man

Unreliable slave laborers?

I'm going to hell for laughing at that!!!

**Photizo** · 12-19-09, 04:39 PM

Originally Posted by Brian Foley

Israel needed it to hang over Gaza.

No, the pranksters are re-forging the sign to correspond to the KJV rendering of John 8:36.

**p-brane** · 12-20-09, 12:52 PM

Originally Posted by Brian Foley

Israel needed it to hang over Gaza.

Why has this thread not been locked?

**Brian Foley** · 12-20-09, 01:12 PM

Originally Posted by Photizo

No, the pranksters are re-forging the sign to correspond to the KJV rendering of John 8:36.

Or in todays economic gloom and doom the 'work makes you free' slogan is out of place.

Originally Posted by p-brane

Why has this thread not been locked?

Who the fuck are you to start demanding threads you find not your liking to be closed, I and others have found this topic to be of interest.

**Killjoy** · 12-20-09, 06:36 PM

Originally Posted by Brian Foley

Or in todays economic gloom and doom the 'work makes you free' slogan is out of place.

Maybe they thought it read "Work FOR Free", and took issue with the notion.

It's apparently been found, at any rate:

WARSAW (Reuters) - Polish police recovered the metal sign that hung over the former Nazi death camp Auschwitz and detained five men suspected of the theft that sparked worldwide condemnation, the state news channel said on Monday.

The sign, which read "Arbeit macht frei" ("Work makes you free"), was cut into three pieces after being stolen on Friday, the broadcaster reported. The motives for the theft were not immediately known.

http://www.reuters.com/article/idUST...rldNews&rpc=76

**S.A.M.** · 12-20-09, 06:39 PM

Sounds like they considered it scrap metal. Its value could hardly have been increased by dividing it

**Norsefire** · 12-20-09, 09:08 PM

Why is this sign so important?

**p-brane** · 12-20-09, 09:15 PM

Originally Posted by Norsefire

Why is this sign so important?

It's important for the same reason that preserving the entire concentration camp is important which is so that what happened there cannot be denied or forgotten.

**S.A.M.** · 12-20-09, 09:20 PM

Originally Posted by Norsefire

Why is this sign so important?

Its the gift that keeps on giving

Last update - 23:43 20/12/2009
Israel to seek another 1b euros Holocaust in reparations from Germany
Finance Minister Yuval Steinitz will demand between 450 million to 1 billion euros in reparations from Germany on behalf of Jews forced into slave labor during the Holocaust, it emerged on Sunday.

Minister Steinitz will reportedly present German government with the demand on behalf of 30,000 Israeli survivors of forced labor in wartime ghettos, during a joint session scheduled to take place in early 2010 in Berlin.

Israeli officials estimate that according to a ghetto workers act passed by the German parliament in 2002, all of the 30,000 living forced labor survivors are entitled to a retroactive payment of approximately 15,000 euros each.

However, Finance Ministry officials say that according to the German government's calculations, the one-time payment is larger than that estimated by Israel, and reaches a total of 1 billion euros.

In addition to the one-time payment, the survivors are also entitled to a monthly allowance, which adds up to around 100 million euros a year.

http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/1136383.html

**Norsefire** · 12-20-09, 09:39 PM

Originally Posted by p-brane

It's important for the same reason that preserving the entire concentration camp is important which is so that what happened there cannot be denied or forgotten.

That's not a very good hindrance to denial; one could simply claim that the facilities were built as part of the conspiracy.