‘Work Makes You Free’ Sign Stolen from Dachau Concentration Camp
Graphic by Angelie Zaslavsky
Part of the iron gate greeting Dachau prisoners with a sign saying “Work Makes You Free” in German was stolen.
The sign, which reads “Arbeit Macht Frei,” was discovered missing from the former concentration camp early Sunday morning, The Associated Press reported. The stolen section of the gate from the prisoners’ entrance measures about 6 feet by 3 feet.
A private firm provides security to the former Dachau camp but there are no surveillance cameras. There are no suspects.
Dachau, which is about 10 miles from Munich, was the first Nazi concentration camp opened in Germany.
The theft comes five years after the 16-foot metal sign from the front gate of the former Auschwitz concentration camp was stolen and recovered across the country 72 hours later cut in three pieces. Repairing the sign took several months.
Five Polish men were convicted of carrying out the theft on behalf of a Swedish citizen, Anders Hogstrom, who acted as a middleman for a neo-Nazi buyer. Hogstrom founded the far-right National Socialist Front party in Sweden in 1994.
Did you know that only 2% of Forward readers donate to support our nonprofit newsroom? That 2% make it possible for millions to read the Forward without a paywall or subscription — removing any barriers to the full and fair Jewish story.
But while the Forward is free to read, it isn’t free to produce. Big stories — like deep dives into the antisemitism data, political scoops or reporting trips to college campuses — take months of research and fact-checking. All while we keep you informed of what you need to know each day.
— Rachel Fishman Feddersen, Forward Publisher & CEO
Support our mission to tell the Jewish story fully and fairly.
