Arbeit macht frei: - Fredrick Töben

Chapter 2
THE ISSUE: TRUTH AND JUSTICE
Let’s fast-forward six months to Friday, 18 December 2009 when Kate
Connolly in Berlin writes for the UK-based Guardian newspaper:
Poland declares state of emergency after ‘Arbeit Macht Frei’ stolen from
Auschwitz
Police believe gang behind theft of Nazi slogan.
Act of vandalism ‘knows no equal’ – Polish minister
A state of emergency was announced in Poland today involving tightened
border controls and random police checks as a nationwide hunt was
launched for the infamous bronze sign to the former German Nazi death
camp Auschwitz after it was stolen.
The discovery this morning that the sign had been wrenched from the top
of the entrance gate posts prompted international reactions of outrage
from Washington to London and urgent calls for its return.
The sign, cast by camp prisoners, which offered the cynical welcome to
new inmates ‘Arbeit Macht Frei’ (work sets you free) and stands as a
potent symbol of the suffering millions endured at the camp, is believed to
have been removed by a gang in what authorities called a meticulously
planned robbery.
Katarzyna Padlo, spokeswoman for police in Oświęcim, (the Polish name
for Auschwitz) in south-eastern Poland, said: ‘We believe the sign was
stolen between 3.30am and 5am when museum guards first noticed it was
missing and called the police.’
Scores of Polish police were put on the case to investigate the whereabouts
of the sign.
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