A doctor, center, with the 322nd Rifle Division of the Red Army, walks with a group of survivors at the entrance to the newly liberated Auschwitz I concentration camp in January 1945. The Red Army liberated the camp on January 27, 1945. Above the gate is the motto "Arbeit macht frei," which translates to "Work sets you free."
A doctor, center, with the 322nd Rifle Division of the Red Army, walks with a group of survivors at the entrance to the newly liberated Auschwitz I concentration camp in January 1945. The Red Army liberated the camp on January 27, 1945. Above the gate is the motto "Arbeit macht frei," which translates to "Work sets you free."
East News/Getty Images
Children are seen just after the liberation by the Soviets. About 7,000 prisoners were in the camp when the Soviets arrived. Those left behind were too weak or sick to move when Nazi SS officers forced nearly 60,000 prisoners to march west as the Soviets approached.
Children are seen just after the liberation by the Soviets. About 7,000 prisoners were in the camp when the Soviets arrived. Those left behind were too weak or sick to move when Nazi SS officers forced nearly 60,000 prisoners to march west as the Soviets approached.
AP
Ivan Dudnik, a 15-year-old Russian, is rescued. The teen was described as insane from the treatment at the camp.
Ivan Dudnik, a 15-year-old Russian, is rescued. The teen was described as insane from the treatment at the camp.
Sovfoto/UIG/Getty Images
Civilians and soldiers recover corpses from common graves shortly after the liberation. Historians estimate more than 1 million Jews, Gypsies, Soviet prisoners of war and Poles were murdered at the camp.
Civilians and soldiers recover corpses from common graves shortly after the liberation. Historians estimate more than 1 million Jews, Gypsies, Soviet prisoners of war and Poles were murdered at the camp.
Mondadori Portfolio/Getty Images
Three prisoners talk with Soviet soldiers who liberated them.
Three prisoners talk with Soviet soldiers who liberated them.
AP
Female survivors in the barracks at the camp. Hundreds of prisoners were housed in the crowded quarters.
Female survivors in the barracks at the camp. Hundreds of prisoners were housed in the crowded quarters.
Galerie Bilderwelt/Getty Images
Survivors of Auschwitz stand behind a barbed wire fence. Some of the children are seen wearing adult clothing they were dressed in by Soviet soldiers.
Survivors of Auschwitz stand behind a barbed wire fence. Some of the children are seen wearing adult clothing they were dressed in by Soviet soldiers.
Galerie Bilderwelt/Getty Images
Soviet soldiers are seen with liberated prisoners.
Soviet soldiers are seen with liberated prisoners.
Sovfoto/UIG/Getty Images
Prosthetic limbs taken from executed prisoners are seen in a pile at the camp.
Prosthetic limbs taken from executed prisoners are seen in a pile at the camp.
AFP/Getty Images
Liberation of Auschwitz

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Two UK students, 17, stole items from the Auschwitz-Birkenau Museum in Poland

The boys have been sentenced following a police investigation

CNN  — 

Two UK students have been sentenced after stealing items from the museum at Auschwitz – the former Nazi death camp in Poland.

The boys, both aged 17, have been fined 1000 Polish Zloty ($269) and given a year’s probation, suspended for three years, their school in Cambridge said in a statement.

They were on a history trip to Poland, The Perse School said, when they were taken on a visit to the Auschwitz-Birkenau Museum that houses relics from the death camp where more than one million Jews died.

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Police were contacted by museum guards regarding the suspected theft of a fragment of hair clippers and a spoon, buttons and two pieces of glass which may have originated from the site at the museum, Malopolska police in Poland told CNN.

“These items were confiscated and secured after a search was carried out on two visitors to the museum who are citizens of Great Britain,” they said. The pupils were detained and questioned Monday afternoon with an English interpreter.

The UK Foreign Office confirmed the arrest of the two British nationals and told CNN they “are in contact with the Polish authorities and stand ready to provide consular assistance.”

An investigation was carried out and the police added that a “criminal offense of this type carries a sentence of one to 10 years imprisonment.”

A spokesman for The Perse School said in a statement: “We understand they (the students) have explained that they picked up the items without thinking, and they have apologised unreservedly for the offence they have given, and expressed real remorse for their action.”

Headmaster Ed Elliott added in the statement: “Removal of historical artefacts is clearly wrong and a very serious matter. We apologise for any thoughtless and offensive behaviour by these two pupils.

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“Each year at the Perse, we hold the Josef Behrmann lecture, named in honour of a former pupil who survived 14 camps,” he added. “We have also been privileged in recent years to hear testimony from two survivors. We are committed to bringing a proper understanding of the Holocaust to our pupils.”

In 2009, the famous “Arbeit Macht Frei” sign, which translates as “Work sets you free,” at the Auschwitz-Birkenau concentration camp in Poland was stolen, before being discovered cut into three pieces. In November last year, an iron gate with the notorious slogan was stolen from the former Dachau concentration camp in Germany.

READ: Voices of Auschwitz

Antonia Mortensen and Carol Jordan from CNN contributed to this report.