Three men, two Poles and a Swede, have been charged with crimes connected to the theft last December of the Auschwitz “Arbeit macht frei” sign.

The three men are Poles Andrzej S., Marcin A., and Swede Andreas Hoegstrem, who is thought to have masterminded the theft.

Krakow prosecutor Robert Parys says that Andrzej S. is accused of complicity in the crime along with three other men who already pleaded guilty and were sentenced to prison terms in March.

Marcin A., and Andreas Hoegstrem, who was extradited from Sweden earlier this year, are charged with the more serious crime of theft of what is seen internationally as an extremely symbolic item, says the prosecutor.

The sign, which hung over the gate to the site of the German Nazi Auschwitz death camp, was stolen on 18th of December last year. The thieves cut the sign into three pieces and hid it in woods near Torun, north-central Poland.

It is alleged that five Poles worked in collusion with the Swedish man , who is thought to have organised the crime. Hoegstrem faces up to 10 years in prison.

(Source: Polskie Radio)