5 arrested as Auschwitz sign recovered
CNN reports: Police in Poland have recovered the infamous sign stolen from the front gate of the Auschwitz concentration camp and arrested five men, they announced today.
The "Arbeit Macht Frei" sign, which means "Work Sets You Free" in German and is synonymous with the Nazi camps of World War II, was stolen late last week from Auschwitz in Poland, police said Friday.
The theft prompted outrage around the world.
Five men in their 20s and 30s have been arrested, journalist Tomas Machala of CNN affiliate Polsat in the Polish capital Warsaw said today.
They were not neo-Nazis, he said, in response to speculation at the time of the theft that the far right was responsible.
"They have some criminal background," he said, noting they had been arrested for robbery and brawling in the past. He did not give their names.
The "Arbeit Macht Frei" sign, which means "Work Sets You Free" in German and is synonymous with the Nazi camps of World War II, was stolen late last week from Auschwitz in Poland, police said Friday.
The theft prompted outrage around the world.
Five men in their 20s and 30s have been arrested, journalist Tomas Machala of CNN affiliate Polsat in the Polish capital Warsaw said today.
They were not neo-Nazis, he said, in response to speculation at the time of the theft that the far right was responsible.
"They have some criminal background," he said, noting they had been arrested for robbery and brawling in the past. He did not give their names.
"They wanted to sell the sign and earn some money," he said. Police said it was too early to say if they acted on their own or were hired to commit the robbery. They face up to 10 years in prison if they are convicted, Machala said.
It is not clear how they managed to steal the sign, which was cut into three pieces into order to fit it into a car, he said.
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