“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 site - which includes Auschwitz I, where the sign was stolen, and nearby Birkenau. But museum spokesman Jaroslaw Mensfelt said it was clear that is not enough and that “the future security system will have to be better.’’
The added cost adds to the museum’s troubles, because it is already dealing with dilapidated structures needing enormous preservation efforts if they are to continue to stand as a testament for future generations.
Last week, Germany pledged $87 million to help preserve the site, calling it an expression of the nation’s historical responsibility. That was only half of what Auschwitz officials say is needed.
Mensfelt said police will return the damaged sign to the museum as early as today. 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 specialists after they for themselves.
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.
After occupying Poland in 1939, the Nazis established the Auschwitz I camp, which initially housed German political prisoners and Polish prisoners. The sign was made in 1940 and placed above the main gate there.
Two years later, hundreds of thousands of Jews began arriving by cattle trains to the wooden barracks of nearby Birkenau, also called Auschwitz II, where they were systematically killed in gas chambers.
The sign disappeared under cover of darkness in the bitter cold early Friday.
