Polish police: 5 men arrested in theft of ‘Arbeit Macht Frei’ have criminal pasts

Polish police recover Auschwitz gate sign, damaged

WARSAW, Poland — Polish police say five men arrested for the theft of the infamous “Arbeit Macht Frei” sign that was bolted atop the gate at the Auschwitz Nazi death camp have criminal pasts.

Investigators announced some details of the recovery of the sign at a news conference Monday, but said it was too soon to say what the motive behind theft may have been. The sign was found cut into three pieces near the home of one of the five men.

The 16-foot (5-meter) sign was stolen before dawn on Friday from the Auschwitz memorial museum site in the southern Polish town of Oswiecim.

Two of the suspects were tracked down in the northern city of Gdynia, the other three near Wloclawek.