21 Dec 2009

Auschwitz sign recovered

6:35 pm on 21 December 2009

Polish police have recovered an historic metal sign that hung over the entrance to the former Nazi death camp, Auschwitz.

Polish state television says five suspects have been detained over the theft that sparked worldwide condemnation.

The sign, which read "Arbeit macht frei" ("Work makes you free"), had been cut into three pieces.

Its wording became a symbol of the Nazis' efforts to deceive their victims into a false sense of security before murdering them.

Some 1.5 million people, mostly Jews, perished in the Nazi death camp located in southern Poland during World War II.