Officials plan more security at Auschwitz

WARSAW, Poland (AP) — The three pieces of the infamous sign proclaiming “Arbeit Macht Frei” (“Work Sets You Free”) will be welded together and restored to the main gate at the former Auschwitz death camp after an improved security system is put in place to guard against another theft.

Officials at the Auschwitz memorial museum said Monday the new system would be aimed at better protecting not just the recovered sign but many other objects testifying to Nazi crimes — from 2 tons of human hair to a trove of written documents to the ruins of gas chambers now sinking into the earth.

Surveillance cameras and round-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’s now clear that isn’t enough and that “the future security system will have to be better.”

The added cost involved only adds to the museum’s troubles, because it is already dealing with dilapidated structures demanding 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. But that was still 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 be made only by conservation experts after they receive it from the police and analyze it for themselves.