OSWIECIM, Poland — Polish authorities stepped up security checks at airports and border crossings and searched scrap-metal yards Saturday as the search intensified for the infamous Nazi sign stolen from the Auschwitz death camp memorial.
The brazen predawn theft Friday of one of the Holocaust’s most chilling and notorious symbols sparked outrage from around the world, and Polish leaders have declared recovering the 16-foot sign a national priority.
The sign bearing the German words “Arbeit Macht Frei” — “work makes you free” — spanned the main entrance to the Auschwitz death camp, where more than 1 million people, mostly Jews, were killed during World War II.
Spokeswoman Katarzyna Padlo said police had questioned all security guards at the site and searched local scrap-metal businesses, while Dariusz Nowak, a police spokesman in Krakow, said investigators were working around the clock on the case.
The director of the Auschwitz- Birkenau memorial museum, visibly shaken by the dramatic theft, told The Associated Press he thinks the theft was carried out by professionals.
“I think it was done by specialists,” Piotr Cywinski said. “It was a very well-prepared action.”
British historian Andrew Roberts said the sign would generate huge interest on the burgeoning market for Nazi memorabilia.
Security guards patrol the 940-acre site around the clock, but because of its vast size, they only pass by any one area at intervals. Cywinski said that gave thieves between 20 and 30 minutes to remove the sign and carry it off.
Museum spokesman Pawel Sawicki said the sign is made of hollow steel pipes and is thought to weigh only about 65 to 90 pounds.
An exact replica of the sign, produced when the original underwent restoration work years ago, was quickly hung in its place Friday.
