THE Head of Rome’s Jewish community got trapped in Auschwitz – before being arrested as he tried to make his way out.

Riccardo Pacifici was doing a TV interview after a ceremony to mark the 70th anniversary of the camp’s liberation.

When he went to leave, he realised that the camp’s gates were closed.

Mr Pacifici’s grandparents were murdered in the camp, and he was giving an interview to Portuguese TV.

As temperatures plunged, the group tripped an alarm as they tried to get out.

This automatically alerted security and local police – leading to the group being arrested.

The group was moved to a local police station and released at around 6am after several hours of questioning through an interpreter.

Online Editors