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Arbeit macht frei ([ˈaʁbaɪt ˈmaxt ˈfʁaɪ] ⓘ) 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 title of an 1873 novel by Lorenz Diefenbach and alludes to John 8:31–32. Following the Nazi Party's rise to power in 1933, the phrase became a slogan used in programs implemented to combat mass unemployment in Germany.[1]
Today, it is primarily known for its use above the entrance of Auschwitz and other Nazi concentration camps.[2] Because prisoners were generally not released from the camps and performed forced labor under horrific conditions, the phrase has come to be understood as meaning that the only way for prisoners to gain a sort of freedom was to work until they died.[3]
- ^ "Arbeit macht frei". auschwitz.org. Retrieved 24 March 2024.
- ^ Encyclopedia of the Holocaust, Yad Vashem, 1990, vol. 4, p. 1751.
- ^ Roth, John K. (1980). "Holocaust Business: Some Reflections on Arbeit Macht Frei". The Annals of the American Academy of Political and Social Science. 450: 68–82. doi:10.1177/000271628045000107. Retrieved 6 January 2025.