Radio New Zealand - Te Reo Irirangi o Aotearoa

Three jailed for stealing Auschwitz sign

Updated at 5:31 pm on 19 March 2010

Three Polish men have been sentenced to prison for stealing the sign that hangs above the gate of the Auschwitz concentration camp.

The five-metre metal sign, inscribed with the German words for 'Work sets you free', is a symbol of the horror of the camp where more than a million Jews were killed during World War II.

Three men were sentenced to up to two and a half years in jail for the theft; two others have yet to be tried for their alleged part in the crime.

The Auschwitz museum made a copy of the sign after the theft last December, and may decide not to replace the original sign above the gate.

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