Two students have been arrested after stealing artifacts displayed at the infamous Auschwitz concentration camp.
The teenagers were charged with unlawfully possessing items of special cultural importance, which carries a maximum 10-year prison sentence in Poland, according to the Telegraph. After issuing an apology, the 17-year-old boys were granted a lifted fine and a suspended sentence.
“The two detainees have admitted their guilt and have declared they are willing to voluntarily submit themselves to punishment,” said deputy district prosecutor Dariusz Slomka, the Telegraph reports.
Auschwitz Spokesman Pawel Sawick said the boys were a part of a tour group when they were spotted by security staff on Monday picking up items from the ground. Both appeared unaware of the implications of their actions and the history of the world’s most infamous concentration camp.
The theft occurred in an area of the camp where the Nazi’s housed possessions held by their victims. Dubbed “Canada,” the sub-section of the camp contains the last pieces of evidence for a large number of people in Auschwitz. Although tourists are allowed to walk through it, Canada has been categorized as a cemetery and, as such, must be left completely untouched.
The Perse School, where both boys were enrolled, confirmed that each been fined 1000 Zloty — roughly $268 — and received one year probation, according to BuzzFeed.
“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,” the Perse School’s spokesman said in a statement.
Chief executive of the Holocaust Education Trust Karen Pollock tells BBC “Every single artifact found at Auschwitz-Birkenau tells a story of the more than a million people who were ruthlessly murdered by the Nazis there and this incident serves to show why our work is crucial now more than ever.”
An Israeli couple received a three-year suspended sentence in 2011 after stealing from items in the same section of Auschwitz.
Picture of Auschwitz artefacts that two arrested British teens allegedly tried to steal http://t.co/517Dl4kbtT pic.twitter.com/82ZviHxDXY
— Josh Halliday (@JoshHalliday) June 23, 2015