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| UK teenagers held over theft of artefacts from Auschwitz museum | UK teenagers held over theft of artefacts from Auschwitz museum |
| (35 minutes later) | |
| Two British teenagers have spent the night in a Polish jail after being arrested at the former Auschwitz death camp on suspicion of stealing artefacts that belonged to former prisoners. | |
| The boys, both 17, attend the £15,000-a-year independent Perse school in Cambridge and were on a history trip to Poland. They are accused of attempting to steal a comb, spoons, buttons and pieces of glass from a building where Nazi guards stored prisoners’ confiscated belongings during the second world war. | |
| Sgt Krzysztof Lach, a spokesman at the Krakow police headquarters, said the teenagers were with a group of friends when they were detained at 3pm on Monday. | Sgt Krzysztof Lach, a spokesman at the Krakow police headquarters, said the teenagers were with a group of friends when they were detained at 3pm on Monday. |
| The boys were questioned on Monday and Tuesday but refused to cooperate with the police investigation, Lach added. A translator was sitting in on the interviews on Tuesday. The pair face up to 10 years in prison if found guilty of theft. | |
| Asked what would happen next, the police spokesman said a court would decide whether to release the boys after questioning. “For now it’s hard to say because they are being questioned [by] the investigation team in Oświęcim. The court will decide what to do,” he said. | |
| Lach said the boys were arrested because they were suspected of stealing “some stuff from the museum – two pieces of broken glass, spoons, clothes buttons and a comb”. | Lach said the boys were arrested because they were suspected of stealing “some stuff from the museum – two pieces of broken glass, spoons, clothes buttons and a comb”. |
| “The museum is very important for us and to people from all around the world and the Jewish people,” Lach added. | “The museum is very important for us and to people from all around the world and the Jewish people,” Lach added. |
| Polish police said the pair were found acting suspiciously in block 5, where belongings of former prisoners were kept during the second world war. “They spent the night in a special jail for youths,” said Lach. | Polish police said the pair were found acting suspiciously in block 5, where belongings of former prisoners were kept during the second world war. “They spent the night in a special jail for youths,” said Lach. |
| Perse school counts theatre director Sir Peter Hall and Pink Floyd’s Dave Gilmour among its alumni. A spokesman said the boys were being supported by a deputy head and have cooperated fully with the Polish authorities. | |
| The headteacher, Ed Elliott, said: “It is still too soon to comment on the details of this case. But it is particularly sad that a situation of this kind had arisen in the course of a visit to a location such as this. The whole party was deeply aware of the scale of the tragedy associated with [Auschwitz] Birkenau and the other camps of the Holocaust. | |
| “We believe that it is essential that young people growing up in today’s world have a proper understanding of just what happened in that time, and these visits are an important part of that process of learning and understanding.” | “We believe that it is essential that young people growing up in today’s world have a proper understanding of just what happened in that time, and these visits are an important part of that process of learning and understanding.” |
| Related: Men jailed for Auschwitz memorial sign theft | |
| A spokeswoman at the UK’s Foreign Office said officials were in contact with the Polish authorities and were ready to provide consular assistance. | A spokeswoman at the UK’s Foreign Office said officials were in contact with the Polish authorities and were ready to provide consular assistance. |
| The Holocaust Educational Trust (HET), one of the biggest UK organisers of trips to Auschwitz, said the boys were not on one of its trips. | |
| Auschwitz, near the city of Krakow in southern Poland, has become a poignant symbol of the Holocaust that claimed 6 million Jewish lives across Europe. | Auschwitz, near the city of Krakow in southern Poland, has become a poignant symbol of the Holocaust that claimed 6 million Jewish lives across Europe. |
| About 1.5 million people, mainly European Jews, were gassed, shot, hanged or burned at the camp during the war. | About 1.5 million people, mainly European Jews, were gassed, shot, hanged or burned at the camp during the war. |
| Museum curators say some visitors try to pilfer artefacts as souvenirs. In 2010, a Swedish man was jailed for orchestrating the theft of the infamous “Arbeit macht frei” sign from the entry gate of the Auschwitz site. | Museum curators say some visitors try to pilfer artefacts as souvenirs. In 2010, a Swedish man was jailed for orchestrating the theft of the infamous “Arbeit macht frei” sign from the entry gate of the Auschwitz site. |