Auschwitz Sign Stolen for Nazi Collectors

The five men arrested for stealing Auschwitz’s infamous sign aren’t neo-Nazis, they’re just "ordinary thieves" who were working for memorabilia collectors, police say. “There is a huge market on the internet for this kind of stuff,” said one expert in Holocaust studies. “Many of the collectors are in the United States. Even such things as faked World War Two Jewish ghetto money can fetch thousands.”

The suspects, aged 20 to 39, all have past convictions for robbery or violence. Four of them are unemployed; the other runs a small construction company. (More Auschwitz stories.)