Part of historic wrought-iron gate stolen from former Dachau concentration camp in Germany
A combined picture made of an archive
picture (L) dated 19 November 2012 and a picture taken 02 November 2014
shows a woman walking through the main entrance of the concentration
camp memorial in Dachau, Germany
The infamous "Arbeit Macht Frei" sign mounted on a wrought-iron gate
at the former Dachau concentration camp has been stolen, German police said
on Sunday.
Security officials noticed early on Sunday that a section of the gate bearing
the sign – which means "Work sets you free" – was missing.
A police statement said that whoever stole the section, measuring 75 by 37
inches, during the night would have had to climb over another gate to reach
it.
Police say they found nothing in the immediate vicinity of the camp and
appealed for anyone who noticed any suspicious people or vehicles to come
forward.
Gabriele Hammermann, director of the Dachau memorial site, condemned the theft
of the gate, which she described as "the central symbol for the
prisoners' ordeal".
She said a private security service supervises the site but officials had
decided against surveillance of the former camp with video cameras because
they didn't want to turn it into a "maximum-security unit."
That decision may now have to be reviewed, she added.
Police have not yet identified any suspects, but neo-Nazis and Holocaust deniers have targeted concentration camps in the past, stealing soil and other artefacts.
In 2009 a sign containing the same notorious words was briefly stolen from the entrance to the Auschwitz Nazi concentration camp in Poland. It was recovered three days later.
The theft drew worldwide condemnation, particularly from Israel and Jewish groups.
Anders Hoegstroem, one of the men who confessed to the theft, was a Swedish neo-Nazi leader. He was jailed for 32 months after striking a plea bargain with Polish authorities.
Dachau, near Munich in Germany, was the first concentration camp set up by the Nazis in 1933. More than 40,000 prisoners died there before it was liberated by US forces on April 29, 1945.
Angela Merkel became the first German chancellor to visit the former concentration camp in August last year, where she expressed "shame" at the crimes of the Nazi regime.
That decision may now have to be reviewed, she added.
Police have not yet identified any suspects, but neo-Nazis and Holocaust deniers have targeted concentration camps in the past, stealing soil and other artefacts.
In 2009 a sign containing the same notorious words was briefly stolen from the entrance to the Auschwitz Nazi concentration camp in Poland. It was recovered three days later.
The theft drew worldwide condemnation, particularly from Israel and Jewish groups.
Anders Hoegstroem, one of the men who confessed to the theft, was a Swedish neo-Nazi leader. He was jailed for 32 months after striking a plea bargain with Polish authorities.
Dachau, near Munich in Germany, was the first concentration camp set up by the Nazis in 1933. More than 40,000 prisoners died there before it was liberated by US forces on April 29, 1945.
Angela Merkel became the first German chancellor to visit the former concentration camp in August last year, where she expressed "shame" at the crimes of the Nazi regime.
source telegraph.co.uk
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