An Infamous Nazi Concentration Camp Sign Was Stolen This Weekend

A sign bearing the Nazi slogan "Work Sets You Free" (Arbeit Macht Frei) has been stolen from the earliest known concentration camp, the BBC reported.

A gate bearing the slogan "Arbeit Macht Frei" (Work Sets You Free) was stolen from the infamous Nazi concentration camp Dachau this weekend.

The Munich police said the theft occurred overnight on Sunday, but the exact time is unknown, since there are no surveillance cameras at the concentration camp.

Dachau, built in 1933, was the first concentration camp the Nazis created — originally with the purpose of housing political prisoners. Over 40,000 people were killed there before it closed in 1945.

Thousands of Jews and other minority groups were kidnapped and held at Dachau during World War II. Many victims were shot, and thousands of others died from various diseases or overwork.

Dachau is now a memorial visited by hundreds of thousand of people each year.

In 2009, a door with the same slogan was stolen from the massive Auschwitz-Birkenau concentration camp in Poland, reportedly by a man with ties to neo-Nazis.

The theft caused an outrage, and was found three days later cut into pieces.

It's unclear why the sign was stolen from Dachau, but many find it disturbing. A blog post by officials at Israel's Yad Vashem Holocaust memorial spoke out against the theft:

While we do not know who is behind the theft of the sign, the theft of such a symbolic object is an offensive attack on the memory of the Holocaust.

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