by nate on Monday, December 21st, 2009 | News, World

The Polish police said early Monday that they had found the infamous “Arbeit Macht Frei” sign that was stolen Friday from the gate of Auschwitz.

More than one million people, mostly Jews but also Gypsies, Poles and others, died in the gas chambers or from starvation and disease while performing forced labor at Auschwitz, which Nazi Germany built in occupied Poland during World War II.

The camp, which became the world’s largest Jewish cemetery, was liberated by Soviet troops on Jan. 27, 1945.

Why would they do it? What would someone do with it? Where would they hide it?

Many speculations have tried to answer these questions. Some of them believe that the thieves are trying to erase the history about the holocaust.

The steel sign, whose German words translate to “Work makes you free,” was found in northern Poland, a police spokeswoman, Katarzyna Padlo, said. Five men ages 25 to 39 were taken into custody and were being taken to Krakow for questioning, Ms. Padlo said.

A police spokesman, Dariusz Nowak, said the sign had been cut into three pieces, each containing one of the words.

Holocaust revisionists have long accused the structures of Auschwitz as being replicas, fabrications. They have tested the soil and bricks in countless futile attempts to debunk the “myth” of Auschwitz. Curators of the Auschwitz museum have long been cautious of tending to the museum’s exhibits behind glass in fear of additional accusations from revisionists.

Tags: 65th anniversary of the liberation, auschwitz, German words, history, holocaust, jewish history, jewish memorial, memorial, museum, nazi slogan, Soviet liberation, stolen sign