Two British teenagers face trial over Auschwitz thefts

The pupils from the independent Perse School in Cambridge were allegedly seen by a guard picking up buttons and fragments of a spoon from the ground

A spokeswoman for the Krakow Regional Prosecutor's office said it was likely the teenagers would have to appear in court after they withdrew their confession. (Getty)

Two British teenagers accused of stealing artefacts from the Auschwitz death camp in Poland will stand trial, prosecutors have said.

In June, two pupils from the independent Perse School in Cambridge were allegedly seen by a guard picking up buttons and fragments of a spoon from the ground in the area where prisoners were stripped of their belongings.

The school said the pair were fined of approximately £170 and received as suspended probation after admitting responsibility.

But Polish prosecutors have said the pair - who were both 17 at the time of the incident - had recanted saying they were not aware of the cultural significance of the items.

A spokeswoman for the Krakow Regional Prosecutor's office said it was likely the teenagers would have to appear in court after they withdrew their confession.

She said the indictment had been sent on Tuesday to the Regional Court in Krakow

The pair now face up to 10 years in prison if they are convicted on the charge relating to “the misappropriation of objects that represent special cultural interest”.

Auschwitz saw around 1.1m people murdered inside its walls during the Second World War - predominantly European Jews but also gypsies, Poles and political prisoners.

Since it was liberated by the Allies in 1945 it has become a poignant symbol of the Holocaust and used as a reminder of the Nazi regime’s atrocities.

Approximately 11m people were killed in Nazi concentration and death camps during the war - six million of them were Jewish.