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Comments (1)The “Arbeit Macht Frei” sign stolen from the memorial at the Auschwitz death camp was recovered.
The metal sign from the front gate of the concentration camp, which means “work makes you free,” was recovered early Monday morning, about 72 hours after it was stolen, according to reports.
The 16-foor-long sign, which was forged by prisoners at the camp, was found across the country in northern Poland and was cut into three pieces, according to reports. Five men, aged 20 to 39, were arrested in the theft. The men are not thought to be neo-Nazis, Krakow Police Chief Andrzej Rokita told reporters during a news conference Monday.
Police and anonymous donors had offered a reward of nearly $40,000 for information leading to the sign’s return.
The theft occurred one day after Germany announced that it would contribute $87 million to the new Auschwitz-Birkenau Foundation, which earlier this year launched a campaign to raise $172 million to preserve the remains of the death camp as a memorial and museum.
There are about 450 buildings and remains of buildings at the site, including the ruins of gas chambers, as well as 80,000 pairs of shoes of victims and 3,800 suitcases, according to a report by the German broadcaster Deutsche Welle.
Some 1.1 million people, including about 1 million Jews, were murdered at Auschwitz.
Britain Eyeing Ways to Avoid Warrants
Britain is exploring ways to enable Israeli politicians to visit without the threat of an arrest warrant or legal action by pro-Palestinian groups.
However, diplomatic sources rejected claims made in the Guardian newspaper Thursday that the attorney general will be asked to approve such arrest warrants in the future.
The action comes following the issue of an arrest warrant against Israeli opposition leader Tzipi Livni, who canceled a trip to Britain last weekend.
The Guardian reported that “the attorney general will be asked to approve warrants before suspected war criminals can be arrested in the future under a plan being negotiated by the Foreign Office in response to the row over attempts to arrest Israel’s former foreign minister.”
A Foreign Office spokesperson told JTA that meetings are taking place to explore all the options being considered.
During a Chanukah candlelighting ceremony Wednesday night at the Prime Minister’s official residence, senior Foreign Office officials said the issue was being dealt with at the highest level and expressed optimism that a solution would be found very soon. None of them referred to a specific solution.
British Prime Minister Gordon Brown in a phone call to Livni told her that he was opposed to the attempt to arrest her. Brown also told the Kadima Party leader that she is welcome to visit Britain at any time.
Public Menorah in Russia Vandalized
Vandals damaged a public menorah in a Russian city.
The vandals also damaged posters and decorations set up around the menorah in Monday’s incident in downtown Smolensk, according to the Interfax news service.
Smolensk Rabbi Levi Mondshain and head of the local Jewish community Zinovy Agranat filed an official complaint with police, according to the report.
Hundreds of Jews had gathered Sunday in Victory Square in downtown Smolensk for a public candlelighting ceremony.