Israelis get suspended sentences after Auschwitz theft
PR dla Zagranicy
Peter Gentle
27.06.2011 07:40
A 60 year-old man and 57 year-old woman from Israel have been given a two-year suspended sentence for stealing artefacts from the Auschwitz museum in southern Poland.
The couple were detained on Friday during a security check at Krakow airport before returning to Israel.
The man and woman, whose names have not been released, were found with spoons and scissors, described by prosecutors as being "culturally significant".
The couple found the items in a place where Nazis kept belongings of Jews and other inmates at the camp where over 1 million died during WW II.
"[The couple] voluntarily accepted a two-year suspended jail sentence and agreed to pay a mandatory contribution towards the preservation of monuments," Deputy District Prosecutor Mariusz Slomka told reporters.
The man and woman are expected to make a donation for the upkeep of the museum and will be allowed home after formalities have been completed.
In June last year two Canadian tourists were detained after the theft of artefacts from the museum.
In December 2009, the Arbeit Macht Frei sign over a gate at the museum was stolen by five Poles acting on behalf of a Swedish paymaster and were given jail sentences last year. (pg)