Tourists fined for stealing bricks from Nazi death camp Auschwitz as 'souvenirs'

Two tourists have been convicted of stealing bricks from the crematorium of the notorious Nazi death camp Auschwitz. Photo / 123RF

Two tourists have been convicted of stealing bricks from the crematorium of the notorious Nazi death camp Auschwitz.

It's been reported that they wanted to take them home as souvenirs.

The Auschwitz-Birkenau Memorial and Museum is located near the industrial town of Oswiecim in southern Poland.

It is estimated that 1.1million people died or were killed at Auschwitz between 1940 and 1945.

The victims were mainly European Jews, but also Russian prisoners of war, Gypsies, Poles and others.

The two Hungarian tourists, aged 30 and 36, were caught red-handed taking bricks from the ruins of the former crematorium.

A foreign couple noticed the Hungarian tourists pocketing the masonry materials from the Auschwitz II-Birkenau part of the site and immediately informed the museum's security.

Police arrived within minutes and arrested the visitors.

They were charged with stealing items of high cultural and historical importance and received a one-year suspended sentence and fine of 1,500 PLN ($602) each.

Policeman Mateusz Drwal told local media: "They said that they only wanted to take home a souvenir and were not aware of the consequences of their actions."

The museum clearly states that it is strictly forbidden to remove items from the former death camp as they are of cultural significance.

Polish courts have handed out fines and suspended prison terms to numerous visitors convicted of stealing objects from Auschwitz in the past, including two British schoolboys in 2016, a German teacher in 2014 and an elderly Israeli couple in 2011.

Netizen 'Sowiniec' commented: "It is like it is some kind of epidemic!'"