Auschwitz sign stolen (and recovered)

Dowly · 12-21-09, 02:06 PM

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 · 12-21-09, 02:13 PM

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 · 12-21-09, 02:30 PM

TBH, never did notice that either.

kranz · 12-21-09, 03:00 PM

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 · 12-21-09, 03:03 PM

Quote:

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 · 12-21-09, 03:09 PM

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 · 12-21-09, 03:18 PM

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 · 12-21-09, 02:56 PM

Quote:

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 · 12-21-09, 02:58 PM

Thanks for clarifying that Letum.

12-21-09, 02:06 PM	#1
Dowly Lucky Jack Join Date: Apr 2005 Location: Finland Posts: 25,054 Downloads: 32 Uploads: 0	Auschwitz sign stolen (and recovered) 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

12-21-09, 02:13 PM	#2
Skybird Soaring Join Date: Sep 2001 Location: the mental asylum named Germany Posts: 42,654 Downloads: 10 Uploads: 0	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! __________________ If you feel nuts, consult an expert.

12-21-09, 03:18 PM	#7
Skybird Soaring Join Date: Sep 2001 Location: the mental asylum named Germany Posts: 42,654 Downloads: 10 Uploads: 0	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? __________________ If you feel nuts, consult an expert.

12-21-09, 02:30 PM	#3
Dowly Lucky Jack Join Date: Apr 2005 Location: Finland Posts: 25,054 Downloads: 32 Uploads: 0	TBH, never did notice that either.

12-21-09, 03:00 PM	#4
kranz The Old Man Join Date: Aug 2007 Location: Poland Posts: 1,430 Downloads: 5 Uploads: 0	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

12-21-09, 03:09 PM	#6
kranz The Old Man Join Date: Aug 2007 Location: Poland Posts: 1,430 Downloads: 5 Uploads: 0	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....

12-21-09, 02:58 PM	#9
Dowly Lucky Jack Join Date: Apr 2005 Location: Finland Posts: 25,054 Downloads: 32 Uploads: 0	Thanks for clarifying that Letum.