Auschwitz Concentration Camp Remenbered If you remember anything about World War II, you know about the tragic discovery at Auschwitz, Poland. Namely the Concentration Camp. Located in German occupied Poland, Auschwitz was the largest of the Nazi German concentration camps. An estimated 3 Million people, mostly Jews, Russian soldiers and Polish dissenters were executed or died at the camp. The camps were finally liberated by Soviet troops in January 1945. Well, this year (2010) the Liberation of Auschwitz was remembered by Poland and they issued a 2-Zlote commemorative coin to honor the 65th Anniversary of the event. The coin's reverse pictures three prisoners and the famed Arbeit macht frei (work will make you free) sign that was located at the entrance of the main camp. Here's a photo of the gate from inside the compound (Wikipedia photo): Main Gate The sign at the entrance (wikipedia photo): Sign at Camp III As to the 2010 commemorative coin; the Polish eagle is on the obverse. The 27mm coin is struck in a brass alloy called Nordic Gold. Photo courtesy of Don's World Coin Gallery (worldcoingallery.com): 2010 2-Zloty, Liberation of Auschwitz Thought you'd like to know... Clinker
Those 2 zl coins can be had at face in Poland; they issue such pieces on lots of different occasions. Most are nicely designed, and they are not expensive (face value about $0.70 or €0.50). The famous "Arbeit macht frei" sign at Auschwitz is this one; the story about the theft roughly a year ago, organized by some Swedish nazi, is on this page too: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Auschwitz_concentration_camp#.22Arbeit_macht_frei.22_sign_theft Christian
Thanks for posting this here, Clinker! By the way, while only that 2 zl coin was issued at face, Poland also made a silver and a gold piece on this occasion. Here is a brochure with some background info about the three coins http://www.nbp.pl/en/banknoty/kolek...ica_oswobodzenia_kl_auschwitz_birkenau_en.pdf (English version) published by the Polish central bank. Christian
