German phrase known for appearing on the entrance of Nazi concentration camps
For the album, see Arbeit macht frei (album).
Slogan displayed at AuschwitzTheresienstadt in the Czech Republic
Arbeit macht frei ([ˈaʁbaɪtˈmaxtˈfʁaɪ]ⓘ) is a German phrase translated as "Work makes one free" or more idiomatically "Work sets you free" or "work liberates".
The phrase originates from the 1873 novel Die Wahrheit macht frei ("The truth sets free") by Lorenz Diefenbach, a pastor and philologist, itself being a reference to John 8:31–32 of the Gospel of John. Following the Nazi Party's rise to power in 1933, the phrase became a slogan used in employment programs put into effect to combat mass unemployment in Germany at the time.[1] It is nowadays known for its use above the entrance of Auschwitz and other Nazi concentration camps.[2]
^"Arbeit macht frei". auschwitz.org. Retrieved 24 March 2024.
^Encyclopedia of the Holocaust, Yad Vashem, 1990, vol. 4, p. 1751.
20 acres. The entrance gate used by prisoners carries the phrase "Arbeitmachtfrei" (lit. '"Work makes free"', or "Work makes [one] free"; contextual...
chamber, was at the prisoner reception centre near the gate with the Arbeitmachtfrei sign, where they were tattooed, shaved, disinfected, and given a striped...
prisoner of Auschwitz concentration camp best known for the infamous "Arbeitmachtfrei" slogan over the camp's main entrance gate that he made. When the...
agents strip and assault refugees; the song "ArbeitMachtFrei" by The Libertines, from Arbeitmachtfrei, plays in the background. "The visual allusions...
the entrances to a number of camps the lie "work brings freedom" ("arbeitmachtfrei") was placed, to encourage the false impression that cooperation would...
can be heard whispering readings (for example a negative review of ArbeitMachtFrei, a TV guide), and "Lobotomia" (which means "lobotomy") is constructed...
worded, the Nazis might have substituted it for the cruel mockery of ArbeitMachtFrei" ["work sets free", read by those entering Auschwitz]. In Pytell's...
Dachaulied, the Dachau song, which cynically took up the Nazi motto Arbeitmachtfrei ("work liberates"), written above the entrance to such camps. In the...
best known through his popular novel Die Wahrheit machtfrei, a subsection of which, Arbeitmachtfrei, was later adopted as a slogan by various German...
its use publicly after much criticism. Extermination through labour Arbeitmachtfrei (idiomatically, "work sets you free"), a motto used at Auschwitz and...
Seven Myths About Work in 1996, updating it in 2002 under the title ArbeitMachtFrei and Other Lies about Work. She co-edited Green Economics: Beyond Supply...
Spain last year, and the Libertines were criticised for a 2004 song, ArbeitMachtFrei, a phrase that was emblazoned above the entrances to concentration...
camps played a key role in the extermination of millions. The phrase Arbeitmachtfrei ("Work makes one free") has become a symbol of The Holocaust. During...
line, 'then work came and made us free', refers to the German slogan Arbeitmachtfrei that featured above the gates of Nazi concentration camps and which...
grandparents went to Auschwitz and all I got was this lousy t-shirt!" and "ArbeitMachtFrei." In response to a complaint from the Anti-Defamation League, the...
Global Information
