British teens arrested after ‘stealing items from Auschwitz’

Polish police have detained two British teenage boys at the site of the former Auschwitz death camp on suspicion of stealing artifacts that belonged to prisoners held there during World War II. The pair, both aged 17, are pupils of the Perse School in Cambridge and were visiting the site of the camp as part of a history trip. The boys were spotted acting suspiciously near a building where German guards confiscated prisoners’ belongings as they arrived at the site.

We understand they 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.

Perse School’s spokesman

When they were searched, investigators found several objects including a piece of a razor, a fragment of a spoon, several buttons and two pieces of glass. The pupils are cooperating fully with the authorities, the school said. The two have already been interrogated through an interpreter, a spokesman for the regional police said, and are awaiting further decisions on their detention. If found guilty, they could face up to 10 years in prison, police said.

World auschwitz boys