Arbeit macht frei. Memorial and Museum Auschwitz-Birkenau, Więźniów Oświęcimia 20, 32-603 Oświęcim, Poland.
The expression "Arbeit macht frei" comes from the title of an 1873 novel by German philologist Lorenz Diefenbach, Arbeit macht frei: Erzählung von Lorenz Diefenbach, in which gamblers and fraudsters find the path to virtue through labour. The slogan Arbeit macht frei was placed at the entrances to a number of Nazi concentration camps. The slogan's use was implemented by SS officer butcher Theodor Eicke at Dachau concentration camp and then copied by psychopath Rudolf Höss at Auschwitz. The slogan can still be seen at several sites, including over the entrance to Auschwitz I where the sign was erected by order of commandant Rudolf Höss. The Auschwitz I sign was made by prisoner-labourers including master blacksmith Jan Liwacz, and features an upside-down B, which has been interpreted as an act of defiance by the prisoners who made it.
Size: 5071px × 4000px
Location: Memorial and Museum Auschwitz-Birkenau I, Więźniów Oświęcimia 20, 32-603 Oświęcim, Poland.
Photo credit: © Jon Williamson / Alamy / Afripics
License: Royalty Free
Model Released: No
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