Polish EU parliament president decries theft at Auschwitz
(BRUSSELS) - EU parliament president and former Polish PM Jerzy Buzek appealed Friday to those who stole an infamous sign from the Auschwitz-Birkenau death camp to return it, calling the theft "outrageous".
"I appeal to those who perpetrated this theft to return the symbolic plaque. Give it back, out of respect for the suffering of over a million victims, murdered in this Nazi camp, the biggest cemetery of human kind," Buzek said in a statement.
Earlier Friday thieves stole the infamous Nazi German "Arbeit macht frei" sign from the entrance to the Auschwitz death camp in Poland, police there said.
The sign, which means "Work Will Set You Free", has become a symbol of the horror of the camp where about 1.1 million mainly Jewish prisoners died during World War II, most in the notorious gas chambers.
"By stealing this plaque, which reminds us of their suffering and death, you have desecrated their memory. That is unacceptable," Buzek said in his message to the thieves after receiving the "outrageous news".
"I am very sad. Auschwitz is the venue of an indescribable crime. Horrible human suffering was inflicted there. This is why the peace of this place should be respected in a very special way," he added.
Buzek was born in 1940, the year Nazi Germany initially set up the camp for Polish resistance fighters in a former barracks.
Over years Auschwitz was expanded to become a vast complex, after razing the village of Brzezinka -- Birkenau in German.
Buzek served as Polish prime minister from 1997-2001, during which time he guided his country into the NATO military alliance.
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