Sweden may help in Auschwitz case

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Poland is to seek Sweden's help in investigating the theft of the "Arbeit macht frei" sign from the Nazis' notorious Auschwitz death camp.

A spokeswoman for the prosecutors in Krakow, Boguslawa Marcinkowska, said the request would be made on Wednesday, but she gave no further details.

The metal sign was stolen early on 18 December. Police found it later cut into three pieces.

Five men - said to be common criminals - were arrested in northern Poland.

Polish radio says a sixth person living outside Poland is wanted by police. It is not clear whether that person was an intermediary or may have commissioned the theft.

The theory that the sign may have been destined for Sweden arose because two of the suspects were detained in Poland's main port of Gdynia, where ferries to Sweden depart.

Earlier, district prosecutor Artur Wrona said the theft was ordered by a foreigner and that Polish police were seeking assistance from Interpol.

Symbol of Nazi horrors

The 5m (16ft) wrought iron sign - the words on which translate as "Work sets you free" - symbolises for many the atrocities of Nazi Germany.

More than a million people - 90% of them Jews - were murdered by the Nazis at Auschwitz during World War II.

The five arrested men are all Polish. Three of them were taken back to Auschwitz to re-enact the theft.

It emerged that when they first tried allegedly to steal the sign they realised they did not have the correct tools, so they left the camp to buy a spanner from a local shop.

The sign, which weighs 40kg (90lb), was half-unscrewed, half-torn off from above the death camp's gate.

If charged with theft and damage, the suspects face up to 10 years in prison.

The theft caused outrage in Israel, Poland and around the world.