Auschwitz sign stolen (and recovered)

[Dowly]

Hmpf... seems the Finnish media didnt think it was newsworthy (or then I just didnt see it mentioned). Anywho, was news to me.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2009...tz-nazi-poland

[Skybird]

First time I learned about that letter "B" in "ARBEIT" being attached by a rebellious worker top down - I never noted it before. It put a smile on my face to imagine that even under those terrible conditions in the camp, at least some minds were capable to imagine this maybe symbolic but original form of resistence, and to carry it out - and the camp guards of the self-declared superior "Herrenrasse" not noticing it!

[Dowly]

TBH, never did notice that either.

[Letum]

Originally Posted by Skybird

First time I learned about that letter "B" in "ARBEIT" being attached by a rebellious worker top down - I never noted it before. It put a smile on my face to imagine that even under those terrible conditions in the camp, at least some minds were capable to imagine this maybe symbolic but original form of resistence, and to carry it out - and the camp guards of the self-declared superior "Herrenrasse" not noticing it!

Sorry to spoil the story a little, but it's unlikely to be upside down.
The first part of the 20th century saw an explosion of new fonts, some of
which used with this style of 'B'. The sign more likely to just be in a font
that is meant to have a top-heavy 'B'.

Ed: out of curiosity, here is the sign with the B flipped:
Strange, but not the most unusual font at the time by a long shot. I guess I have just been conditioned by years of
font conformity to view it as odd.

[Dowly]

Thanks for clarifying that Letum.

[kranz]

Once I heard a story that the guy who rotated the letter was punished somehow but never found it confirmed. There was a reward offered-sth like 30.000 Euro for person who could help in finding the sign(read: tell the police that his neighboir has recently dug 3 big words in his garden). All of them are said to have already been convicted for robbery and similar acts. Unfortunatelly the sign was cut into three parts.(I pay 1 euro reward for the person who will guess how they cut it )

PS: Letum was faster than my post...hmm.. never heard that story though I've been to the camp twice(I live sth like 60 km from it)and heard from the historian who shows you all the places the version that is above..so now rly dunno

[Dowly]

Originally Posted by kranz

(I pay 1 euro reward for the person who will guess how they cut it )

They cut all the words in separate pieces (it's said in the article ). Now, donate that 1€ to Subsim.

[kranz]

pwned and sth that was not in the article: the whole camp is "protected" by four guards and cameras that have only an "online" mode which means no recording. That allowed Polish officals to cry about money which they lack for protecting our national "good" and turn their heads towards Germany and Israel....

[Skybird]

On the B-font, I refer to several German news reports about the theft that made brief side-comments on the B being top-down (read it twice), and I refer to the German wikipedia site that identifies the man installing the letter intentionally wrong as Jan Liwacz, a fitter/metal worker (Kunstschlosser) who was confirmed by several surviving witnesses of the camp to have installed the letter top down as a form of protest.

I certainly do not know all fonts in the world, but those I have seen or have installed in Word, see the upper and lower part of the capital B to be of either the same size, or the lower part bigger than the upper part - not the other way around. that is also true for text fonts used in Jugendstil. The upper half of the B being bigger than the lower half, I have never seen anywhere. And the font being used on that sign over the gate, are not that special at all.

All that does not prove you wrong Letum, I know, it could be that you are right. I just do not see a need for that more complex theory. If the reversed B would be a regular font, one would expect to see it in other German texts and signs of that time, too.

When they weld the three parts of the sign together again, they can use the opportunity to fix that B, right?

[Letum]

Originally Posted by Skybird

I just do not see a need for that more complex theory.

Likewise, the alternative explanation could be true, but I see the font
explanation as by far the most simple. We know such fonts where in use.

[SteamWake]

I found it interesting in that there were evidently 5 pepole involved.. or at least were arrested.

[Skybird]

Originally Posted by Letum

Likewise, the alternative explanation could be true, but I see the font
explanation as by far the most simple. We know such fonts where in use.

Do you have a source for the "who was confirmed by several surviving witnesses" bit?

What I said:

http://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arbeit_macht_frei

Am Tor des Stammlagers Auschwitz befindet sich der Schriftzug „Arbeit macht frei“ mit einem auf dem Kopf stehenden Buchstaben B. Ehemalige Auschwitz-Häftlinge berichten, es habe sich um einen heimlichen Protest ihres Mitgefangenen Jan Liwacz gehandelt, der als Kunstschlosser mehrere Auftragsarbeiten für die SS ausführen musste.

Edit:

the English wikipedia entry also mentions it:

the sign was made in 1940 by Polish political prisoners headed by Jan Liwacz (camp number 1010).[1] The upper bowl in the "B" in "ARBEIT" is wider than the lower bowl, appearing to some as upside-down. Allegedly it was made on purpose by political prisoners to make a signal what is really going on in Auschwitz.

[Dowly]

Weee dooont speak germanyy!!!

[Letum]

Originally Posted by Skybird

the English wikipedia entry also mentions it:

pfft
It also mentions the font variations.

I guess the jury is gonna be out for a long time on this one.

Rebellious workers making small victories against unobservant camp
guards is, of course, always going to be the more popular version on it's
narrative merit, however scant the evidence.

[kranz]

Kazimierz Zając
nr obozowy 261
Napis "Arbeit macht frei" wykonany został w 1940 roku. Litery wycinał więzień o nazwisku Liwacz. Celowo wyciął literkę "B" odwrotnie.

Which means:

Kazimierz...
camp number 261

Caption Arbeit Macht Frei was done in 1940. The letters were cut by a prisoner named Liwacz. He cut the letter B as "turned over"(here my translation fails...) on purpose

from http://www.mdsm.pl/index.php?language=PL&id=173

and more:
Jan Liwacz
nr obozowy 1010
To pewnego rodzaju złośliwość, która dała nam małą satysfakcję.

Kazimierz Zając
nr obozowy 261
Nie mógł ruszyć żadnej innej litery, tylko "B" nadawała się do tego. Robił to w głębokiej tajemnicy.

Jan Liwacz:
It was kinda mischievousness, which gave us satisfaction
Kazimierz Zajac:
He(Liwacz) could not move any other letter, only B could be moved. He did that in deep conspiracy.