BBC News
Two British teenagers have "apologised unreservedly" for "picking up items without thinking" from the former Auschwitz death camp, their Cambridge school says.
The Perse School says the 17-year-old boys "attempted to keep some items which they had found on the ground".
They were detained at the site on Monday on suspicion of stealing artefacts belonging to ex-prisoners.
Polish police say prosecutors are considering possible charges.
If found guilty of theft the teenagers could face up to 10 years in prison, police said.
The pair were spotted acting suspiciously near a building where Nazi German guards had stored prisoners' confiscated belongings, a spokesman for the museum which now operates on the site told Reuters news agency.
The items found were part of a hair clipper, buttons, and pieces of spoons and glass.
The Perse School said the boys, who were on a history trip to Poland, were being supported by the deputy head and co-operating fully with the Polish authorities.
A spokesman said: "We understand they have explained that they picked up the items without thinking, and they have apologised unreservedly for the offence they have given, and expressed real remorse for their action. They are currently being interviewed by the prosecutor".
Headmaster Ed Elliott said: "It is still too soon to comment on the details of this case. But it is particularly sad that a situation of this kind had arisen in the course of a visit to a location such as this.
"The whole party was deeply aware of the scale of the tragedy associated with Birkenau and the other camps of the Holocaust. Removal of historical artefacts is clearly wrong and a very serious matter. We apologise for any thoughtless and offensive behaviour by these two pupils."
The UK Foreign Office confirmed two British nationals had been arrested.
"We are in contact with the Polish authorities and stand ready to provide consular assistance," a spokeswoman said.
'Tells a story'
Karen Pollock, chief executive of the Holocaust Education Trust, said the alleged theft by the two teenagers was "absolutely shocking".
"Every single artefact found at Auschwitz-Birkenau tells a story of the more than a million people who were ruthlessly murdered by the Nazis there and this incident serves to show why our work is crucial now more than ever," she said.
"We have a duty to educate the next generation to prevent ignorance and hate, and in over 15 years of organising for thousands of British teenagers to visit Auschwitz-Birkenau, we have never known of such an incident."
The Auschwitz-Birkenau State Museum was founded in 1947 and has more than 80,000 British visitors each year.
Curators say some visitors try to take artefacts as souvenirs.
In 2010, a Swedish man was jailed for plotting the theft of the "Arbeit macht frei" ("Work sets you free") sign from the entry gate of the Auschwitz site.
Auschwitz-Birkenau, located near the city of Krakow in southern Poland, was the largest camp established by the Germans during World War Two.
Some 1.1 million people, mostly Jews, were killed there between 1940 and 1945, when Soviet troops liberated it.
Auschwitz-Birkenau death camp
- Construction began in 1940 on a site that grew to 40 sq km (15 sq miles)
- About one million Jews were killed at the camp
- Other victims included Roma (Gypsies), people with disabilities, homosexuals, dissidents, non-Jewish Poles and Soviet prisoners
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