'arbeit macht frei' is german for 'work liberates'. a sign with this slogan was built over the gates of auschwitz, a POLISH concentration camp used by the germans in worlD war II to torture and eliminate thousands of jews.the sign was placed there by Major Rudolf Hoss, the camp-commandant and is seen as inspired by a heideggerian philosophy which says that work will bring metaphysical freedom to the worker, strongly inspired by hegel and marx.the line 'work came and made us free' is a reference to this sign. in the lyrics of a design for life the line must be understood in the hegelian and marxist (see karl marx) way. it is mentioned in this song as an ironic reference to the suspicious death of of the working-class (see a design for life [phrase]).