Report: British Nazi sympathizer linked to Auschwitz sign theft

[Behind the Aegis]

Source: DPA

Last update - 18:31 03/01/2010

A wealthy British Nazi sympathizer was the impetus for last month's theft of the famous entrance sign to the historic Auschwitz death camp in Poland, the British tabloid Sunday Mirror reported Sunday.

The collector, whose name was not given, allegedly let it be known in the wider neo-Nazi scene that he was prepared to pay a large amount of money for the sign, the recent theft of which has caused a global stir.

The collector wanted it as a trophy - and used his neo-Nazi contacts to put word out he was prepared to pay huge money for it," an unnamed source in Sweden told the newspaper.

The sign, which reads "Arbeit Macht Frei" or "Work Sets You Free" hung over the entrance to the death camp, which operated during the Nazi occupation of Poland in World War II. It was stolen on December 18.

A Polish man, identified as Marcin A, has been remanded to three months of pre-trial custody, on charges of organizing the theft. The four men who allegedly performed the actual theft are being held for the same period as they await trial. If found guilty, they could face prison sentences of up to 10 years.


Read more: http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/1139587.html

[denbot]

1. Can't wait for this asshole's name to be released.

Nothing like the light of day on these people.

[Warpy]

4. My best guess is that he's got a title

and claims kinship with the Royals. I can see no other reason to protect him.

[AzNick]

12. Or it's Max Mosley

And he needs it for decorum while being whipped by nazi clad ladies.

[Warpy]

24. Thanks a lot

Honestly, I could have lived a long and happy life without that image in my brain.

[muriel_volestrangler]

23. There's the British libel laws

Unless the papers have positive proof of the identity of the British neo-nazi, they'd lose a libel case. Since the Swedish authorities are still investigating, and haven't yet made arrests, it's unlikely that the Mirror or anyone has definitive proof that the British neo-nazi had been involved in the theft (that Polish, Swedish or British police suspect him, for instance, woulnd't be enough).

[damntexdem]

36. And a public trial.

Short of that, the publicity will only please him.

[Arctic Dave]

2. Ten years for stealing a sign? Talk about crime not fitting the punishment.

[onehandle]

3. It's an important historical piece.

And a symbol that I cannot even explain.

[Arctic Dave]

5. It may be, but ten years seems a long time to put someone in jail over a sign.

Give them community service or something.

[Kurska]

6. Community service are you fucking serious?

2 million people from all parts of europe were murdered in cold blood at Auschwitz, stealing the sign shows absolute contempt and disregard for one of the 20th century's greatest crimes. He or she is lucky to get just 10 years. What do you think someone should get for vandalizing 2 million graves?

[Arctic Dave]

7. Put them in jail then, you can pay for since you seemed by pissed about it.

Other then that, I still think it is a dumb idea.

[truthisfreedom]

8. Ultimately, it's a hate crime.

Think about it.

[Arctic Dave]

9. If I go to an indian burial and steal something, is it a hate crime or theft?

[starroute]

10. There's no name for this crime but it certainly isn't theft

Part of it is the element of desecration -- as if you'd stolen something from the site of the World Trade Center or Hiroshima. A second part is the reports that the sign was stolen to sell for cash to carry out bombings and murders. And a third part is that the buyer was presumably planning to use the sign for some sort of neo-Nazi revivalism.

As I say, there's no name that covers all the aspects of this crime, but it certainly isn't theft.

[Arctic Dave]

11. Most people steal for other reasons other then the object, this is just seedier.

Like I posted earlier, is it a hate crime to steal from indian burial grounds?

[devilgrrl]

13. Awwwww! Poor little nazi asshole has to go to prison for ten years... boo hoo!

:cry:

[Kelvin Mace]

32. Again, I think you would have a different

view in different circumstances. If an atheist stole the Shroud of Turin to sell to someone who offered big bucks for it, should he/she be charged with some crime other than theft? Should they be punished more severely than they would if they had stolen an equally old, but less symbolic relic from a museum? The two (the sign and the Shroud) are, on many levels, symbolically equivalent (even though the Shroud is a demonstrable fake, while the sign is over an actual place, where actual crimes were committed).

By all means, punish the crime, but don't pile on.

That said, IF the statute they are being charged under is simply a theft statute, and the 10 year max is that applied to all such crimes, then that's fine; as long as ALL similar crimes (theft of property from a national monument) are punished identically, or reasonably close.

[alex456]

14. If your point of stealing was to destroy their history

then it would most definitely be a hate crime. Vandalism can be denoted as a hate crime, and I'd say 10 years for stealing and destroying (cutting it into three pieces) the original Arbeit Macht Frei sign is getting off light. For me that sign is much more than just the entrance to the largest Nazi extermination camp, or even more than the gravestone of 2 million people. That sign was made by prisoners in 1940; it was probably one of the last things they ever touched, let alone created with their own hands. Look at that sign and think of them in a dark Auschwitz 1 factory room making that sign, pounding away the perhaps defiant upside-down B because they knew what a fraud "Work Sets You Free" was. Look at the sign that way and tell me you feel they are getting a raw deal. That sign you so charmingly sweep to the side like it was a "Help Wanted" sign outside a KFC embodies and memorializes their and millions of others' souls.

So yes, if someone were to steal from an Indian burial ground with that type of malice, then 10 years of staring at bars would be a perfect fit.

[Arctic Dave]

16. So stealing any artifact is a hate crime?

Or are you saying this more important the other cultures artifacts that have been stolen?

[alex456]

18. First off, nice use of a canard

That ol' "You guys think you're more important than everyone else" is an oldie, but goodie. I appreciate a classic, much like Chanel Tweed or a black dress, always in style. A couple things wrong with that though, besides the obvious, not everyone whose grave they desecrated was from the same culture. I never said "only Jews" on my previous message. They desecrated gypsies, slavs and various others besides Jews. So its a hate crime of epic proportions, seeing as they are just fine with several cultures who weren't Aryan being slaughtered wholesale, and definitely are okay with that history being wiped out or sold to the highest neo-Nazi bidder, because hell, they probably made it up anyway. Also, those prisoners that made the sign who I so fondly like to remember were likely not Jewish, since Auschwitz didn't start transporting until late '41/early '42 for extermination. While some of my family and a very beautiful part of my culture was wiped out on those grounds, I never say that there aren't Roma and Poles and many others who feel the same way about their culture and families.

Or is it the opposite of your canard? Do you think they shouldn't be punished as much because the desecration is towards THAT culture? No, you know, I take that back because that probably wasn't your intention at all (one would hope on a Democratic site), and I don't like throwing around canards and unwarranted attacks that just put people in a horrible mood unlike some people.

[Arctic Dave]

37. Nice rant, are you done? Will you answer my question now?

[alex456]

38. I already answered it several times

If it were up to me, anyone who destroyed any historical site would get a massive amount of time behind bars. 10 is easy. Oh, and thank you, my previous post was well-written, you were right about that.

[jmowreader]

34. Don't be so sure about its destruction

A good welder can repair that sign so nicely you'll never know it was cut.

Forcing Jewish prisoners to make that sign is an atrocity on the level of forcing death row inmates to build a lethal injection gurney.

[Kelvin Mace]

35. The sign is a sign

The fact that we have chosen to imbue it with intangible symbolic value is something we humans do. It is certainly a historical relic, and it resides on ground deemed a public monument, thus, the law has already given it special status, and the possibility for stiffer punishment. My point is (to use your example, and expand upon it), the theft of such a sign, or the theft of a relic from Cherokee burial ground, or a Confederate graveyard are should all be equivalent under the law. If such crimes are punishable by up to ten years, great. BUT, if in practice we give one thief 10 years, but another one year, because a concentration camp is considered symbolically more important, we have a problem.

[alex456]

39. "We" don't give anything

Different governments hand down different sentences. Your theory may be correct if we had a single ruling body of law in the world, but alas, we do not.

[boppers]

15. Yes, it is a hate crime to steal from indian burial grounds.

Next question?

[Arctic Dave]

17. It is federal crime. However, it is mostly written off with a fine.

[Kelvin Mace]

31. *sigh*

Desecration may certainly be vandalism, which is a crime, but this is theft. Once we begin elevating symbols to the level of actual humans, we have lost our perspective.

Stealing from a historical site is theft against the people as a whole, and is thus prosecutable as a crime. When you open the door to punishing one theft more severely because of its "symbolic" value, rather than its actual value, you are on a very slippery slope. The next thing you know, stealing a "Bush for president" sign (to use a recent historical example) becomes a "desecration" of the presidency. If you destroy the sign, it becomes a "threat" against the president.

And no, I do not equivocate the Bush sign with the Auschwitz sign, just the underlying framework of the crime.

As I have told my conservative critics who get very upset that I oppose all flag-burning laws, when a "symbol" of liberty becomes more important than ACTUAL liberty, liberty is a moot concept.

[Kelvin Mace]

30. I have, and I have a hard time seeing theft

as hate. The story appears to be (if correct, and that is a BIG "if") that the sign was ultimately stolen for money.

[cali]

21. uh, why would anyone here pay for putting them in jail?

This happened in Poland, genius. And yeah, they deserve jail time. pathetic that you don't grasp why.

[atreides1]

33. Are you paying for it.?

Has someone asked you personally to write a check for their upkeep?

Do you even live in the country where they will be prosecuted?

[Kelvin Mace]

29. When showing contempt becomes a crimnal offense

we are ALL in trouble.

Yes, the crime is heinous, but no, it does not warrant ten years, especially when far more serious crimes are routinely punished less severely.

The crime is theft. Symbolically committing other crimes (vandalizing two million) graves as you put it) is not an actual offense. The law must be an instrument of justice, not revenge.

[proteus_lives]

20. You don't want the little nazis in jail, fine.

Lock them in a room with IDF soldiers for about 20 minutes after informing the soldiers of the crime.

Now that's a fair punishment.

[Violet_Crumble]

22. It's not just any old sign. What was done was desecration...

I'm wondering if you've ever visited Auscwhitz? Because if you had, I doubt you'd be trivialising the stealing of that sign.

[AngryAmish]

28. THere I disagree

It is like stealing the Rosetta Stone or the Constitution.

[alp227]

19. The theft was tasteless, even if the perps were just pranksters without racist motives

because of the historical significance of the sign.

I hope that Poland puts extra security around the historical Holocaust sites so that no more racist Nazi apologists ever can successfully tarnish history like this.

[zbdent]

25. they probably had to sterilize the sign

after they got it back ... all those stains on it from the symp. masturbating with it ...

[Odin2005]

26. I knew it was a Neo-Nazi fucker. I just KNEW it.

[ck4829]

27. Kick