Arbeit Macht Frei gate at KZ Sachsenhausen

Detail of the Arbeit Macht Frei inscription on the gate at Dachau.

Arbeit Macht Frei at Auschwitz, with the inverted B.

Arbeit Macht Frei at concentration camp Terezín (Theresienstadt) in the Czech Republic.

"Arbeit macht frei" is a German phrase meaning "work brings freedom" or "work shall set you free/will free you" or "work liberates" and, literally in English, "work makes (one) free".
Arbeit Macht Frei gate, KZ Sachsenhausen, Berlin -- by jpatokal File history Legend: (cur) = this is the current file, (del) = delete this old version, (rev) = revert to this old version. ... Arbeit Macht Frei gate, KZ Sachsenhausen, Berlin -- by jpatokal File history Legend: (cur) = this is the current file, (del) = delete this old version, (rev) = revert to this old version. ... Entry to the camp Sachsenhausen was a concentration camp in Germany, operating between 1936 and 1950. ... Image File history File links Metadata Size of this preview: 800 × 600 pixelsFull resolution (3264 × 2448 pixels, file size: 3. ... Image File history File links Metadata Size of this preview: 800 × 600 pixelsFull resolution (3264 × 2448 pixels, file size: 3. ... The main entrance just after the liberation Memorial at the camp, 1997. ... Image File history File links Metadata Size of this preview: 800 × 580 pixelsFull resolution (1632 × 1184 pixels, file size: 261 KB, MIME type: image/jpeg) The entry gate to Auschwitz concentration camp, taken in July 2006. ... Image File history File links Metadata Size of this preview: 800 × 580 pixelsFull resolution (1632 × 1184 pixels, file size: 261 KB, MIME type: image/jpeg) The entry gate to Auschwitz concentration camp, taken in July 2006. ... Image File history File linksMetadata Theresienstadt. ... Image File history File linksMetadata Theresienstadt. ... This article does not cite any references or sources. ...

Origin

In 1872 the German-nationalist author Lorenz Diefenbach used the expression, "Arbeit macht frei," as the title for a novel, causing the expression to become well-known in nationalist circles. It was adopted in 1928 by the Weimar government as a slogan extolling the effects of their desired policy of large-scale public works programmes to end unemployment, and mocking the individualist slogan, "Stadtluft macht frei" ("Urban air liberates"). It was continued in this usage by the NSDAP (Nazi Party) when it came to power in 1933. Lorenz Diefenbach (July 19, 1806 – March 28, 1883) was a distinguished philologist and ethnologist, born at Ostheim, in the grand-duchy of Hesse; was for 11 years a pastor; in the end, until his death, librarian at Frankfurt-am-Main; his literary works were numerous and varied; his chief were... Nationalism is an ideology that creates and sustains a nation as a concept of a common identity for groups of humans. ... Anthem Das Lied der Deutschen Germany during the Weimar period, with the Free State of Prussia (in blue) as the largest state Capital Berlin Language(s) German Government Republic President  - 1918-1925 Friedrich Ebert  - 1925-1933 Paul von Hindenburg Chancellor  - 1919 Philipp Scheidemann(first)  - 1933 Kurt von Schleicher (last) Legislature... Look up Public works in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. ... For judgements of value about collectivism and individualism, see individualism and collectivism. ... The Nazi swastika The National Socialist German Workers Party (German: Nationalsozialistische Deutsche Arbeiterpartei), better known as the NSDAP or the Nazi Party was a political party that was led to power in Germany by Adolf Hitler in 1933. ...

Nazi use

The slogan, "Arbeit macht frei," was placed at the entrances to a number of Nazi concentration camps, not as a mockery, not even literally – as a false promise that those who worked to exhaustion would eventually be released – but rather "as a kind of mystical declaration that self-sacrifice in the form of endless labour does in itself bring a kind of spiritual freedom." [1] Nazi Germany, or the Third Reich, commonly refers to Germany in the years 1933–1945, when it was under the firm control of the totalitarian and fascist ideology of the Nazi Party, with the Führer Adolf Hitler as dictator. ... It has been suggested that Internment be merged into this article or section. ...

Although it was common practice in Germany to post inscriptions of this sort at entrances to institutional properties and large estates, the slogan's use in this instance was ordered by SS General Theodor Eicke, inspector of concentration camps and first commandant of Dachau Concentration Camp. SS redirects here. ... Theodor Eicke (October 17, 1892 - February 26, 1943) was a Nazi official, SS-Obergruppenführer, commander of the SS-Division (mot) Totenkopf of the Waffen-SS and one of the key figures in the establishment of concentration camps in Nazi Germany. ... It has been suggested that Internment be merged into this article or section. ... The main entrance just after the liberation Memorial at the camp, 1997. ...

The slogan can still be seen at several sites, including the entrance to Auschwitz I—although, according to Auschwitz: a New History, by BBC historian Laurence Rees, it was placed there by commandant Rudolf Höß, who believed that doing menial work during his own imprisonment under the Weimar Republic had helped him through the experience. At Auschwitz, the upper bowl in the "B" in "ARBEIT" is wider than the lower bowl, appearing to some as upside-down. Several geomerically constructed sans-serif typefaces of the 1920s experimented with this variation. Auschwitz (Konzentrationslager Auschwitz) was the largest of the Nazi German concentration camps. ... Laurence Rees (born 1957) is Creative Director of History Programs for the BBC, a documentary filmmaker, and the author of five books on war and historical atrocities. ... Rudolf Franz Ferdinand Höß (in English commonly Hoess or Höss or rarely Hoeß; November 25, 1900; April 16, 1947) was an SS-Obersturmbannführer (Lt. ... Servant has a number of meaning: A servant is another word for domestic worker, a person who is hired to provide regular household or other duties, and receives compensation. ... Anthem Das Lied der Deutschen Germany during the Weimar period, with the Free State of Prussia (in blue) as the largest state Capital Berlin Language(s) German Government Republic President  - 1918-1925 Friedrich Ebert  - 1925-1933 Paul von Hindenburg Chancellor  - 1919 Philipp Scheidemann(first)  - 1933 Kurt von Schleicher (last) Legislature... In typography, serifs are the small features at the end of strokes within letters. ...

The slogan can also be seen at the Dachau concentration camp, Gross-Rosen, Sachsenhausen, and the Theresienstadt Ghetto-Camp. The main entrance just after the liberation Memorial at the camp, 1997. ... KL Gross-Rosen was a German concentration camp, located in Gross-Rosen. ... Arbeit Macht Frei gate Sachsenhausen was a concentration camp in Germany, operating between 1936 and 1950. ... Location of the concentration camp in the Czech Republic Gate Concentration camp Theresienstadt was a concentration camp set up by the Gestapo in the fortress and garrison city Terezín (German name Theresienstadt), located in what is now the Czech Republic. ...

At Buchenwald, however, "Jedem das Seine" ("To each his own") was used instead. Gate with the words Jedem das Seine (literally, “to each his own”, but figuratively “everyone gets what he deserves”) Buchenwald concentration camp was a Nazi concentration camp established on the Ettersberg (Etter Mountain) near Weimar, Thuringia, Germany, in July 1937, and one of the largest such camps on German soil. ... Jedem das Seine is a German translation of an old Greek principle of justice which translates literally into English as To each his own, but with the idiomatic meaning of To each according to his merits. ...

In 1938 the Austrian political cabaret writer Jura Soyfer and the composer Herbert Zipper, while prisoners at Dachau Concentration Camp, wrote the Dachaulied (The Dachau Song). They had spent weeks marching in and out of the camp's gate to daily forced labor, and considered the motto, "Arbeit macht frei," over the gate an insult. The song repeats the phrase cynically as a "lesson" taught by Dachau. (The first verse is translated in the article on Jura Soyfer.) Cabaret is a form of entertainment featuring comedy, song, dance, and theatre, distinguished mainly by the performance venue — a restaurant or nightclub with a stage for performances and the audience sitting around the tables (often dining or drinking) watching the performance. ... Jura Soyfer and Maria Szecsi 1938 Jura Soyfer (December 8, 1912. ... A composer is a person who writes music. ... The main entrance just after the liberation Memorial at the camp, 1997. ... Jura Soyfer and Maria Szecsi 1938 Jura Soyfer (December 8, 1912. ...

In Popular Culture

British Band The Libertines wrote a song entitled Arbeit Mach Frei. The Libertines were an English rock band that gained notoriety[1] in the early 2000s, part of what was described as the garage rock revival movement of that time. ...

CSI: episode Pirates of the Third Reich depicts gruesome medical experiments by a killer. Over his lab door is the slogan "Arbeit Macht Frei". Pirates of the Third Reich is the fifteenth episode from the sixth season of the popular American crime drama CSI: Crime Scene Investigation, which is set in Las Vegas, Nevada. ...

External links

• Rudy Brueggemann's Photos of Arbeit Macht Frei slogans at Nazi camps

See also

Wikimedia Commons has media related to:

Arbeit macht frei

• The Holocaust
• Jedem das Seine