Peres says shocked by Auschwitz sign theft
President meets with Polish prime minister in Copenhagen, tells him 'Arbeit Macht Frei' notice stolen from Nazi concentration camp carries 'a deep historic meaning for the Jewish people and the entire world and serves as a memorial for more than one million murdered Jews.' Tusk vows to make every effort to locate criminals
The president's office reported that he expressed the "deep shock" of the State of Israel's citizens and the Jewish people worldwide following the incident.
Tusk said that "the sign theft is an extremely serious incident and is painful to us just like it is painful to you."
Peres stated during the meeting that "the State of Israel and the entire Jewish people ask you to take the required steps in order to capture the criminals and return the sign to where it belongs."
He noted that the sign "has a deep historic meaning, both to the Jewish people and to the entire world, and serves as a memorial for more than one million Jews murdered in that camp."
Museum workers place alternative sign (Photo: AFP)
The Polish prime minister expressed his profound grief over the incident to the Israeli president and the Jewish people and briefed Peres on the handling of the affair.
"We are taking all the required steps in order to catch the criminals. In the morning hours I instructed the internal security minister, who is responsible for the police and the special security forces in Poland, to make the capture of the criminals a top priority. Poland's security forces have been dealing with this matter only since the morning hours."
A spokesman for the local police told TVP Info television that "around 5 am today, the museum administration informed us that the sign has been stolen."
Polish Ambassador to Israel Agnieszka Magdziak-Miszewska said that the Polish police believe the unknown perpetrators who stole the infamous sign at the entrance to the Nazi death camp Auschwitz meticulously planned out their plot because they were not caught on security cameras.
Tusk added that "the Polish government, headed by me, is working to build a special guarding mechanism for the Auschwitz-Birkenau sites," referring to a special fund being created to guard historic places commemorating the Holocaust.
"This fund is being created by many leaders in Europe, led by German Chancellor Angela Merkel, who has allotted more than €60 million (about $86 million) for this purpose," he noted.
Foreign Ministry: Thieves have 'twisted mind'
Yossi Levy, the Foreign Ministry's spokesman for the Hebrew press said earlier Friday, "It's hard to imagine what kind twisted (person) would want to steal this terrible symbol at the entrance to the death camp. The same shuddering combination, 'work sets you free;, which millions of Jews saw moments and hours before their death."
Knesset Speaker Reuven Rivlin said that "this is another one of the new forms of anti-Semitism in Europe, which is attempting to cause us to forget the historic memory of the Holocaust by sabotaging every symbol related to it."
Rami Hochman, general director of the Ghetto Fighters' House Museum in northern Israel, referred to the incident as "a new record in the shocking campaign aimed at denying and degrading the Holocaust.
"We frequently tend to turn to the calming thought that this is a small, quiet and hallucinatory group of people, but stealing a sign which the entire world recognizes and indentifies with serves as a concrete reminder o the disturbing reality in Europe and the rest of the world," he added.
Leaders of the Jewish community in Germany said that Holocaust survivors and their offspring were deeply saddened and shocked by the sign theft. "What can I say? It’s shocking, painful and cruel," said Dieter Grauman, vice president of the Central Council of Jews in Germany.
Referring to the motive behind the incident, he noted that "anything is possible – it could be an anti-Semitic act, it could be a political act, and it might have nothing to do with politics."
Hagai Einav contributed to this report
