Police: Foreigner behind Auschwitz theft

WARSAW — A foreigner outside Poland commissioned the brazen theft of the infamous Auschwitz sign “Arbeit Macht Frei” (“Work Sets You Free”), and detectives must expand their investigation beyond the country’s borders, officials said.

In a bid to learn more about the crime, investigators held a re-enactment of the theft by the three men who confessed to taking the sign from the former Nazi death camp at Auschwitz.

Based on the evidence gathered since the theft Friday, the crime was commissioned by a “person living outside Poland,” and police were seeking help from Interpol and others as they investigate, said Artur Wrona, the chief prosecutor in Krakow.

Polish media have reported, without citing any sources, that someone in Sweden could be under suspicion, but Mr. Wrona refused to confirm or deny the claims.

In Stockholm, a Swedish police official said they’ve not been contacted about any links.

“There has been no requests made by the Polish police to the Swedish police yet,” Superintendent Bertil Olofsson of the Swedish National Criminal Police said, “and so we can’t confirm this speculation.”

Despite the specter of an international link to the crime, Mr. Wrona said the investigation so far had exposed “glaring negligence” in the security system at the Auschwitz museum that let the burglars act “undisturbed.”

He said they drove to the then-closed museum in a sports car after dark Thursday but found they needed tools to get the sign down. They went to a shop and bought tools, including a wrench, he said.

When they returned, it was just after midnight, and there were no guards about as they unbolted one side and ripped the other off the opposite gate post, officials said.

Police said the sign was cut into three pieces with a saw so it could fit in the getaway car.

Only one camera overlooks the gate, and it remained unclear whether it recorded the theft.

Museum spokesman Jaroslaw Mensfelt said that for more than 60 years of its existence, the museum’s security system had seemed to be sufficient but now was undergoing scrutiny.

“Any upgrades that might be made must mean that no one will ever think of another theft,” he said.

Working from tips, police found the sign Sunday — hidden under snow in the woods — and arrested five suspects in northern Poland. Prosecutors said three of the five men have confessed to Friday’s pre-dawn theft of the sign, which is a symbol of Nazi Germany’s atrocities during World War II.

All five suspects face up to 10 years in prison if convicted of stealing and dismantling the sign, which is a symbol of World War II and the Holocaust and has historic value for Poland.

Story Continues →