From the Liveblog of
Wednesday, February 8, 2017
Portuguese teens who left names on Auschwitz gate sentenced
WARSAW, Poland — A Polish court hands one-year suspended prison terms and fines two Portuguese teenagers who wrote their names on a gate of the former Nazi German death camp Auschwitz-Birkenau.
The lawyer for the 17- and 18-year-old says they regret and have apologized for putting their names and the date on the red brick gate of Birkenau, part of the Auschwitz complex. The teens were there on July 28, while attending a world youths’ meeting with Pope Francis in Poland.
Under Polish law any damage to the Auschwitz-Birkenau Memorial is a crime. One of the teens used a pen to inscribe his name, the other a stone.
Defense lawyer Marcin Surowiec tells The Associated Press he plans to appeal the sentences issued Wednesday because his clients did not damage the gate.
— AP
The Times of Israel Community.