Auschwitz to upgrade security following theft

The three pieces of the infamous sign proclaiming "Arbeit Macht Frei" ("Work Sets You Free)" will be welded together and restored to the main gate at the former Auschwitz death camp after an improved security system is put in place to guard against another theft.

Officials at the Auschwitz memorial museum said Monday the new system would be aimed at better protecting not just the recovered sign but many other objects testifying to Nazi crimes from two tons of human hair to a trove of written documents to the ruins of gas chambers now sinking into the earth.

"The location of the sign is its only authentic one, above the gate of the former Auschwitz I camp," museum director Piotr Cywinski said. "The sign will return there as soon as possible, after ensuring the protection of its site against damage and burglary."

Surveillance cameras and around-the-clock foot patrols already protect the vast 940-acre (200-hectare) site which includes Auschwitz I, where the sign was stolen, and nearby Birkenau. But museum spokesman Jaroslaw Mensfelt said it's now clear that isn't enough and that "the future security system will have to be better."

The added cost involved only adds to the museum's troubles, because it is already dealing with dilapidated structures demanding enormous preservation efforts if they are to continue to stand as a testament for future generations.

Last week, Germany pledged 60 million euro ($87 million) to help preserve the site, calling it an expression of the nation's historical responsibility. But that was still only half of what Auschwitz officials say is needed.

Mensfelt said police will return the damaged sign to the museum as early as Tuesday. The sign was cut into three pieces, each containing one of the words, and the fact that the cuts were made between the intact words should make it easier to weld together, Mensfelt said. He stressed, though, that a specific plan for restoring the sign can only be made by conservation experts after they receive it from the police and analyze it for themselves.

For now, an exact replica of the sign hangs in its place.

The grim slogan "Arbeit Macht Frei" was so counter to the actual function of the camp that it has been etched into history, becoming one of the most recognizable slogans of the Nazi era. The phrase appeared at the entrances of other Nazi camps, including Dachau and Sachsenhausen, but the long curving sign at Auschwitz was the best known.