Holy Hell, that’s awful.
Only memorial / museum in the world that I ran out of emotional stamina before I could finish.
These were my pics of the gate from my visit.
The sign over Auschwitz was stolen in December 2009
i was going to say, “…didn’t it get stolen before once already?” – i must’ve had it confused with the one at Auschwitz. i can’t even recall if they recovered the other one. how horrible.
I can understand why someone might want to collect emotionally loaded, historical artifacts, though I think this heads into Warehouse 13 territory. What I don’t get (and this also goes for people who steal recognizable works of art) is what the value of a thing is which you could never show to anyone?
Fortunately Buchenwald is still standing with a nice example of a Bauhaus font (which the Nazis thought was degenerate art)
There’s nothing here I can get a handle on.
Whether it’s a collector, a censor, or a vandal… none of it is remotely rational.
Once again, brute entropy raises its eyeless, malignant head.
As I recall, it was found shortly afterwards abandoned in a nearby thicket
The jerk stole that too.
The notorious Arbeit macht frei gate you have in mind is actually this gate in Auschwitz:
“http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Auschwitz_I_entrance_snow.jpg”
it was stolen then recovered in 2009.
Wrong. Read the article.
I don’t discuss the fact that Dachaus’ gate has been stolen. I only point out that the notorious/iconic one is in Auschwitz.
I think at this point the gates have become so attractive to thieves that the real gates should be placed in museums with tighter security, and reproductions installed onsite.
And another iconic one is was at Dachau
Maybe it wasn’t a collector, but someone who wanted to destroy it to make a symbolic statement. Maybe the intent was to say, “These gates will never close on anyone again.”
It doesn’t seem logical, and even if we’re doomed to repeat history whether we remember it or not I don’t think that justifies destroying its artifacts. I simply think it might have been stolen for its lack of desirability.
But only if they can track down the craftsmen who mad them in the first place…
We aren’t going to waste our time with someone who wants to declare the auschwitz gate the one true gate or some shit. All the gates are certainly notable, have been long photographed and discussed. I dunno why Auschwitz is more special to this guy, but hey we all have our own way of thinking about this stuff.
I realize this is probably the LEAST of all the Nazis’ countless offenses, but it always makes me sad to have that phrase associated with them. If you think of it in the context of good work, meaningful work, work on behalf of others, it could have been a beautiful thought.
Neo-Nazis (who don’t want people to see it) or Holocaust-fetishizing collectors (who don’t care about showing it off), I guess.
I agree it’s not an inherently monstrous idea, but I’m not really a fan of the idea that hard work is inherently virtuous. In practice, that sort of ethic always seems to wind up vilifying those who can’t find work or are physically or mentally disabled.
