# Arbeit Macht Frei sign stolen from Auschwitz



## BikerBabe (Dec 18, 2009)

_Sign that spanned entrance to former Nazi death camp in Poland removed overnight_

Arbeit Macht Frei sign stolen from Auschwitz | World news | guardian.co.uk






_
Thieves removed the “Arbeit Macht Frei” sign that spanned the entrance to 
the former Auschwitz death camp. Photograph: Katarina Stolz/Reuters_


The iron sign bearing the Nazi slogan "Arbeit Macht Frei" that spanned the main entrance to the former Auschwitz death camp was stolen before dawn today, Polish police said.

The sign with the German words for "Work Sets You Free" is believed to have been stolen from the gates of the Auschwitz memorial between 3.30am and 5am, when museum guards noticed it was missing and alerted authorities, a police spokeswoman, Katarzyna Padlo, said.

The wide iron sign across a gate at the main entrance to the former Nazi death camp in southern Poland, where more than 1 million people died during the second world war, was unscrewed on one side and pulled off on the other, Padlo said.

Criminal investigators and search dogs were sent to the grounds of the vast former death camp, where barracks, watchtowers and the ruins of gas chambers still stand as testament to the atrocities inflicted by Nazi Germany on Jews, Gypsies and others.

Padlo said there were no suspects but police were pursuing several theories.

Another police spokesman told TVP Info television: "The whole area is under surveillance. There are many cameras there. We are now analysing the film. I hope we will find the trail."

Jaroslaw Mensfelt, the museum's spokesman, told the Polish newspaper Gazeta Wyborcza the theft was "very saddening".

"The thieves either didn't know where they were or – what's even worse – they did know but that didn't prevent them from stealing," he said.

Gazeta Wyborcza reported that the museum authorities had already replaced the sign with a replica, which was used briefly a few years ago when the original was being repaired.

The slogan "Arbeit Macht Frei" was used at the entrances to other Nazi camps, including Dachau and Sachensenhausen, but the long curving sign at Auschwitz is perhaps the best known.

More than a million people visit the Auschwitz site every year, but the barracks and other structures are in a state of disrepair and Polish authorities have been struggling to find the funds to carry out conservation work. This week, Germany pledged €60m to an endowment that will fund long-term preservation work – half the amount that Auschwitz memorial museum officials say is needed.


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## evangilder (Dec 18, 2009)

Who would do such a thing? Terrible


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## RabidAlien (Dec 18, 2009)

Catch em and fry em. 

If they're dumb enough to steal a sign and not know where its from or the significance behind it, give them some community service (oh, say, 40 years' worth) working AT Auschwitz.


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## piet (Dec 18, 2009)

I see that the B is upside down


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## rochie (Dec 18, 2009)

unbelievable


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## mudpuppy (Dec 18, 2009)

There are guards posted there overnight and surveillance cameras; but this large iron sign was still stolen? Was somebody sleeping?


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## Thorlifter (Dec 18, 2009)

I just read this. Man, people have lost the ability to determine right from wrong these days.


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## Colin1 (Dec 18, 2009)

I'm not buying the 'thieves didn't know where they were' story, it sounds pre-meditated and planned, given the time of night and the specific nature of the item. 

Is it clear from the ground that it unscrews, if so, where, how many screws and how big? ... little bit of recon went into this job methinks...

I'll wager it's adorning the HQ of some neo-Nazi organisation who sees it as a rallying point for right-wing discontent.


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## BikerBabe (Dec 18, 2009)

I agree with Colin1.
The only other thing I could think of, was either a very drunk kind of "You don't dare to snatch that sign!" stunt, or something like that.
You'd be amazed at what gets delivered to the various police stations all over the world, with items coming from drunk stunts to outright theft and break-ins at various places.

I can understand that people forget or drop keys, cell phones, glasses - and that wallets, expensive electronics and other such things gets nicked - but dangit, I've seen wheelchairs, prosthetic legs and arms, kayaks, huge xerox machines, safes, enormous flat-screen tv sets, designed furniture (tables, chairs - sometimes 50-60 of them, usually that's an order from someone else), several huge lamps like the PH "pinecone" and what have you.

So why not a sign like that?
Drunk stunt or not, whoever did this definitely needs to get a few things set straight in their stupid little heads.
And I'd be more'n happy to help them...with a baseball bat or something like that! *growls*


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## evangilder (Dec 18, 2009)

Using a baseball bat, I like the way you think, Maria!


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## Thorlifter (Dec 18, 2009)

How do you pronounce the first word?

Is is like R-Bite, R-beet, something different?


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## Gnomey (Dec 18, 2009)

Disgraceful!


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## Wurger (Dec 18, 2009)

It is something like Are-byte.....Thor.

What a shame......


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## beaupower32 (Dec 18, 2009)

*SIGH* People these days......


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## vikingBerserker (Dec 18, 2009)

That's just fricken cold.


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## Thorlifter (Dec 18, 2009)

Thanks Wurger. That is what I thought but wasn't sure.


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## timshatz (Dec 18, 2009)

Why bother? What the hell are you going to do with it? Not as though you can sell it on Ebay or something. And who the hell wants it hanging around the house? 

If it is some right wing crank, he'll show it to the wrong person one of these days and that will be that. If it's a drunken prank, they'll find it in a field. 

Bizzarre.


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## FlexiBull (Dec 18, 2009)

5 metres long and 40kg - not the easiest thing to carry off. The report said unscrewed on side then pulled (forced) off the other. Seems to be a callous bunch of sick opportunists.

Well maybe it will come back to haunt the theives.


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## DerAdlerIstGelandet (Dec 18, 2009)

Colin1 said:


> I'll wager it's adorning the HQ of some neo-Nazi organisation who sees it as a rallying point for right-wing discontent.



I do not believe it was Neo Nazis that stole this. This actually goes against everything they believe in. If you ever read up on any of the organizations, all of them deny the holocaust ever happened.

I believe this was either one of two kinds of people:

1. A bunch of young punks who did it to just piss people off.

2. A collector of WW2/Third Reich memorabilia.


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## DerAdlerIstGelandet (Dec 18, 2009)

Thorlifter said:


> How do you pronounce the first word?
> 
> Is is like R-Bite, R-beet, something different?



"Arbeit" would be pronounced R-Bite.


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## timshatz (Dec 18, 2009)

DerAdlerIstGelandet said:


> 2. A collector of WW2/Third Reich memorabilia.



Where could he sell it? Is there a market for something like that?


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## Vassili Zaitzev (Dec 18, 2009)

D!sgusting.


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## Colin1 (Dec 18, 2009)

Oh, this just in...

BBC News - Auschwitz death camp sign stolen


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## DerAdlerIstGelandet (Dec 18, 2009)

timshatz said:


> Where could he sell it? Is there a market for something like that?



There is plenty of a market for such things, but I do not think he would sell it.


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## RabidAlien (Dec 18, 2009)

In response to a lot of the comments on Colin's link: the camp (and the sign) stand not as a memorial to Nazism, or as a nice war memorial...they stand as a reminder of what mankind can do to mankind if allowed, and as a charge to future generations to stay on guard and never let this happen again, in any form, in any country. The fact that someone would take the time to research, plan, and execute this heist (I don't believe it was a drunken driveby double-dog-dare....but I've been wrong before!) should prove that we're allowing our future generations forget this lesson. The implications of this make me very nervous indeed.


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## Thorlifter (Dec 19, 2009)

Thanks for the correct pronunciation of Arbeit.

The more I think about this, the more I'm absolutely dis-gusted with it. So if they don't find it, would they make another to replace it? If they did, it just wouldn't seem right. In fact, I'm getting down right pissed off that a part of history that we hold so dear to us has been vandolized.


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## vikingBerserker (Dec 19, 2009)

Or to sell it as scrap metal.


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## 109ROAMING (Dec 19, 2009)

Colin1 said:


> I'm not buying the 'thieves didn't know where they were' story, it sounds pre-meditated and planned, given the time of night and the specific nature of the item.
> 
> Is it clear from the ground that it unscrews, if so, where, how many screws and how big? ... little bit of recon went into this job methinks...
> 
> I'll wager it's adorning the HQ of some neo-Nazi organisation who sees it as a rallying point for right-wing discontent.



Exactly. How many bolts would it take to get that thing off? surely someone woulda heard something 

If welded a hacksaw or angle grinder must of been heard??? surely

wtf


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## Pong (Dec 19, 2009)

Now can't they show some respect for the millions who died there? The local police should give them a good whacking or two.

Disgraceful. Utterly disgraceful.


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## Lucky13 (Dec 19, 2009)

_WHO_ would want a sign like that, with all that it represents, hanging around the house?  This is just....I don't know, I'm lost for words!


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## timshatz (Dec 19, 2009)

Lucky13 said:


> _WHO_ would want a sign like that, with all that it represents, hanging around the house?  This is just....I don't know, I'm lost for words!



It's a combination of sick, weird, nutty and stupid. Equal parts. 

One thing is sure, whomever did it better have a fantastic plan or they are right now getting the feeling they screwed up royally.


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## DerAdlerIstGelandet (Dec 19, 2009)

Lucky13 said:


> _WHO_ would want a sign like that, with all that it represents, hanging around the house?  This is just....I don't know, I'm lost for words!



As a serious historical Third Reich collector here, I could understand wanting something like that. I too would not mind having it, from a purely historical point of view.

That being said, I would never take it. It is disrespectful.


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## Lucky13 (Dec 19, 2009)

I could never steal anything like that, even if waving $$$$ under my nose or whatever... Mind you, I'm that kinda person, that couldn't even set my foot in any of these places, walk through those gates, because of what went on there....my mind and nerves wouldn't be able to handle it....


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## GrauGeist (Dec 19, 2009)

Stealing anything from a place like that is both malicious and intentional and took alot of planning. And how did they get it away from there, a bunch of guys running down the street?

There is no need, no matter the excuse, for any icon or artifact from such an evil place...

I hope that whoever stole that sign gets visited by all the miserable, tortured souls that perished there...all at once...


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## Lucky13 (Dec 19, 2009)

Karma can be a real b*tch!


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## Gnomey (Dec 20, 2009)

Great news. Sign found and 5 people arrested.

BBC News - Police in Poland find sign stolen from Auschwitz gate


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## vikingBerserker (Dec 20, 2009)

Excellent, and may they burn in hell..........


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## Thorlifter (Dec 20, 2009)

Unfortunately, they cut it into three pieces. It would be easy to restore with some welding. Hopefully it won't be very noticable.


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## wheelsup_cavu (Dec 21, 2009)

I hope it doesn't take too much to repair the sign.


Wheels


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## Lucky13 (Dec 21, 2009)

WHAT!? 

Great news that they found them and the sign.... As said before, may they be visited by all those restless souls at once!


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## timshatz (Dec 21, 2009)

Lucky13 said:


> Mind you, I'm that kinda person, that couldn't even set my foot in any of these places, walk through those gates, because of what went on there....my mind and nerves wouldn't be able to handle it....



I agree with you Lucky, not going anywhere near any of them either. Too dark, forboding and generally nothing positive about them. Millions dead in industrial genocide is enough of a reason NOT to go.

I appreciate others going and taking shots, posting them on the board. It's nice of them to do so.


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## DerAdlerIstGelandet (Dec 21, 2009)

Excellent that it was found. 

Not surprised as I stated above that they were not Neo Nazis. Still it is a shame the cut it into three pieces.


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## Wurger (Dec 21, 2009)

Yep..I agree with you totally. What is more I think they should be sentenced to a very retribution.


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## Pong (Dec 22, 2009)

Great news that they found it, hope they can put it all back together.


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## Lucky13 (Dec 22, 2009)

Still have a hard time trying to grasp, why anyone would something like this!


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## wheelsup_cavu (Dec 22, 2009)

One would be the notoriety achieved by stealing it.


Wheels


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## Colin1 (Dec 23, 2009)

*Auschwitz thieves re-enact their raid*

_The Daily Telegraph_ December 23 2009

_Three men who admited helping to steal the Arbeit Macht Frei Auschwitz sign were taken back to the former Nazi death camp yesterday to show police how it was taken.

Police could not work out how they had managed to remove the 16ft sign undetected, so took the men back to the scene of the crime. Piotr Kosmaty, the Polish prosecutor, said three of the five men arrested on Sunday had admitted their part and agreed to return.

He said the re-enactment had given police some insights, but did not elaborate. Officers investigating the theft said they were looking at the possibility that it may have been commissioned from abroad.
Foreign police forces have been notified and are working on the case, but the Polish police refused to comment on claims that *the order for the sign to be stolen may have come from Sweden*.

Police found the 'Work sets you free' sign on Sunday - cut into three pieces - and arrested five suspects in northern Poland.

In Krakow, police displayed the three broken parts of the sign, with each part bearing one of the words. Some of the steel pipe that formed its outline was bent and the letter 'I' was missing from the word 'Frei'. Cutting and sawing tools were found at the home of one of the suspects._



Lucky, I want you on the case, leave no stone unturned. Change your name to Wallander if you have to.


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## BikerBabe (Dec 25, 2009)

The theft of the sign were ordered by a neo-nazi group in Sweden, and the sign were meant to be sold in order to finance a terror attack on the swedish parliament, Rigsdagen, the swedish Foreign Ministry, and swedish prime minister Frederik 
Reinfeldt's home, according to swedish newspaper Aftonbladet. 
The swedish security police, Säpo, confirms that they knew of the alleged (spelling?) plans of attack.
There has been no arrests in Sweden, but a prosecutor has been attached to the case.

For those who wants to view the original article (in swedish - Google Translate is your friend), here's the link: http://www.aftonbladet.se/nyheter/article6334807.ab



Colin1 said:


> Lucky, I want you on the case, leave no stone unturned. Change your name to Wallander if you have to.



...or Beck, or Larsson, if need be. I guess Gunvald would be very...efficient...in dealing with the jerks.


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## RabidAlien (Dec 25, 2009)

No arrests. They KNEW these guys were planning an attack. They KNEW they were going to finance it with the sale of the sign. They CAUGHT the sign thieves red-handed, with sign in their possession, cut up for easier transport. What were the authorities planning on doing, waiting until the attack happened and THEN arrest the douchebags? I don't care who handles the case....they need to drop these jerkburgers into a very deep, very dark hole, fill it with wet concrete, and lock the door behind them.


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## DerAdlerIstGelandet (Dec 27, 2009)

Wow, I really did not see that coming!


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## vikingBerserker (Dec 27, 2009)

DAM!!


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## Gnomey (Dec 27, 2009)

Yeah that certainly wasn't what I was expecting. Hopefully they will get the neonazi's behind it as well.


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## BikerBabe (Dec 27, 2009)

From Berlingske.dk - a danish newspaper, translated by me, dec. 25h, 2009:

Media all over the world brought last week the story of how the sign with the text "Arbeit Macht Frei", that hangs over the entrance to the former nazi-death camp, Auschwitz, had been stolen.
The three words over the entrance to the KZ-camp - where more than one million people were gassed to death, is with the diabolical lie "Works sets you free" the epitome of nazi evil, and the theft was condemned as a disrespect towards the dead.
Now it turns out that the theft is linked to a swedish militant, ultra-nationalist group, who has been making plans to cause a blood bath in Riksdagen, and attack prime minister Fredrik Reinfeldt.

After the five metre long sign with the infamous text had been stolen, polish police immediately arrested three presumed perpetrators in a city 300 kms from Auschwitz.
The arrest led the police to a nearby forest, where the 40 kilo sign was hidden, cut out in three pieces, and during the following interrogations, the three men revealed that the theft was an order, and that they would get what amounts to 35.000 Dkr, and that the sign had been ordered by a recipient in Sweden.

Shortly afterwards, another two men were arrested in th eharbour city of Gdansk, where there's a ferry connection going to and from Karlskrona on the eastern coast of Sweden.
A theory is that the two should have brought the sign with them to Sweden.
Polish police has been investigating the arrested men's cell phone traffic, and discovered that a lot of calls has been placed to a certain telephone number in Sweden.

According to the information that the swedish newspaper Aftonbladet has, the sign should have been sold to a collector, who were ready to pay a lot of money.
A source in the nazi groups in Sweden tells the newspaper, that his part was to set up contact with the buyer - who isn't swedish, but who alledgedly were prepared to pay millions for the sign.

Aftonbladet, who states that the source is a defected swedish nazi leader, found out that the source - instead of dismissing his nazi beliefs - is a member of a militant ultra-nationalist group, who had planned to attack the swedish government among others, and that the sign were meant to finance the terror attacks. 
The source admits according to Aftonbladet, that he don't think that the traditional nazi groups can make a difference because the members are too stupid, and that he admires the german terrorists Baader-Meinhof, "who were ready to act", and that the goal today is "to prevent the islamisation of society".

As a part of that struggle, the group would gain entrance to the Swedish parliament, Riksdagen, according to the newspaper, their plan was to open fire on the members of Riksdagen.
The group has also had plans about attacking Prime Minister Fredrik Reinfeldt’s private home, and the Foreign Ministry.
A spokesman for the police intelligence service, Säpo, comfirms the threat:
“We are aware of the information of the alledged terror plans, and we have been aware of it for a while”, press secretary Patrik Peter says, and he further states that the police has done what they can to counteract the plans without elaborating on the means.

According to Aftonbladet, the group is split in two parts:
Five members should perform the acts of terror, and the rest would be raising the money needed.
According to the newspaper, the group had automatic weapons, explosives and old, but still functional Russian anti-tank weapons.

A more recent comment from the same newspaper – Berlingske.dk, the 26th of december:

It is unknown how serious the police takes the group. So far there is only media rumours about who they are, and what they can accomplish.


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## wheelsup_cavu (Dec 27, 2009)

Thanks BB.

This is getting weirder by the minute.


Wheels


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## BikerBabe (Jun 10, 2010)

Report: Swedish millionaire behind Auschwitz theft, suspect says - Monsters and Critics¨

*Report: Swedish millionaire behind Auschwitz theft, suspect says*

_Jun 10, 2010, 9:43 GMT - Warsaw_

- A Swedish millionaire with connections to the neo-Nazi movement has been implicated in last year's theft of the historic 'Arbeit Macht Frei' sign from the Nazi death camp Auschwitz, a Polish newspaper reported Thursday.

The daily Rzeczpospolita said that Anders Högström, the alleged mastermind behind the theft, pointed to millionaire Lars Göran Wahlström as the person who ordered the theft.
Högström, also a Swede, is currently in Polish custody as a suspect in the theft of the sign, which means 'Work sets you free.' It hung over the infamous concentration camp, where 1.1 million people - mostly Jews - were killed by Nazis in World War II.

The newspaper reported that Wahlström is Högström's legal guardian and a well-known figure in the neo-Nazi movement.
Prosecutors in Krakow did not confirm the report.
Högström, a former neo-Nazi leader, was arrested in February after Polish authorities issued an international arrest warrant for him.

Three Polish men received jail sentences in connection with the theft, while another two remain in custody on suspicion of carrying it out.
The sign was stolen on December 18 and recovered by police two days later. 
The thieves defaced the sign and allegedly cut it into three pieces in preparation for shipment.


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## Matt308 (Jun 10, 2010)

Wow. That certainly violates Occam's Razor.


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## Lucky13 (Jun 10, 2010)

Shoot the f*cking b*stards!

At this very moment, I'm ASHAMED to be a Swede!


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## evangilder (Jun 10, 2010)

You shouldn't be, Jan. Dirtbags come from all nations.


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## bobbysocks (Jun 10, 2010)

shooting is way to fast and humane.....


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## Matt308 (Jun 10, 2010)

Yeah, no need to be ashamed Luckster. Dirtbags appear to exist in every country.


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## RabidAlien (Jun 10, 2010)

Heh. Just take a look at who's running the countries. Yer good, Jan. Yer good.

As for this neo-nazi mo-fo....I can think of several appropriate actions to take, but none can be mentioned here due to this being a public, family-friendly site.


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## Gnomey (Jun 11, 2010)

It is good to see that the people behind this are starting to be identified.



Matt308 said:


> Yeah, no need to be ashamed Luckster. Dirtbags appear to exist in every country.



Certainly are. No reason to worry.


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## DerAdlerIstGelandet (Jun 11, 2010)

Lucky13 said:


> Shoot the f*cking b*stards!
> 
> At this very moment, I'm ASHAMED to be a Swede!



Why there are shitbags in every country!


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## vikingBerserker (Jun 11, 2010)

....and that is the one thing every country has in common.


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## robwkamm (Jun 12, 2010)

Agreed. everyones got em. why did they chop it up. didnt they ever hear of oversized packages? were did they think they were going to hang this thing ? a clubhouse bar? dumbasses.


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## BikerBabe (Jun 13, 2010)

Lucky13 said:


> Shoot the f*cking b*stards!
> 
> At this very moment, I'm ASHAMED to be a Swede!



Don't be. As the other guys say: There are dumba**es in every country.
Btw, the spare parts for the beemer comes from - ta-daaaaaaa - Malmö!  *happy-sound.mp3*
And lots of other good things and people - like you yourself - comes form Sweden, so cheer up!


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## RabidAlien (Jun 13, 2010)

Lots of good stuff from Sweden....


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## Loiner (Jun 14, 2010)

A good point well made RabidAlien


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## Pisis (Jun 14, 2010)

And hell, guess where I'm movin' to for a year...!


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