answersLogoWhite

0

The phrase was taken from Dachau, where it was on the gates. The first kommandant of Auschwitz had served in Dachau previously and thought that it was an appropriate motto.

____

The motto was used at all major Nazi concentration camps except Buchenwald. Before the Nazis came to power 'Arbeit macht frei' had been the slogan of the public works programme in the Weimar Republic but it is older than that, going back at least to the 1870s. Previously it had meant something like 'Work [employment] is the key to freedom [emancipation]' but obviously the SS used it as a sick joke.

User Avatar

Wiki User

14y ago

What else can I help you with?