Arbeit Macht Frei sign stolen from Auschwitz

[timshatz]

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.

 

[DerAdlerIstGelandet]

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.

 

[Wurger]

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

 

[Pong]

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

 

[Lucky13]

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

 

[wheelsup_cavu]

One would be the notoriety achieved by stealing it.


Wheels

 

[Colin1]

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.

 

[BikerBabe]

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

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.

 

[RabidAlien]

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.

 

[DerAdlerIstGelandet]

Wow, I really did not see that coming!

 

[vikingBerserker]

DAM!!

 

[Gnomey]

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

 

[BikerBabe]

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.

 

[wheelsup_cavu]

Thanks BB.

This is getting weirder by the minute.


Wheels

 

[BikerBabe]

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.

 

[Matt308]

Wow. That certainly violates Occam's Razor.

 

[Lucky13]

Shoot the f*cking b*stards!

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

 

[evangilder]

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

 

[bobbysocks]

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

 

[Matt308]

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