SS blood group tattoo

SS blood group tattoos were worn by members of the Waffen-SS during World War II.

Basic information

The SS blood group tattoo was applied, in theory, to all Waffen-SS (W-SS) members (except members of the British Free Corps). It was a small black ink tattoo located on the underside of the left arm, usually near the armpit. It generally measured around 7mm (0.28 inches) long, and was placed roughly 20cm (8 inches) above the elbow. The tattoo consisted of the soldier’s blood type letter, either A, B, (AB?) or O. The discovery of the rhesus factor had been made in 1937, but was not fully understood during World War II, so was not implemented. In the early part of the war tattoos were printed in Gothic-style lettering, while later on they were printed in Latin-style.

Further information

The idea behind the tattoo was that if a soldier needed a blood transfusion and he was unconscious, or his "Erkennungsmarke" (dog tag) or "Soldbuch" (pay book) were missing, the doctor could still ascertain the soldier's blood type by locating the tattoo. The tattoo was generally applied by the unit's "Sanitäter" (medic) in basic training, but could have been applied by anyone assigned to do it at any time during his term of service. Before the tattoo was developed, a wounded soldier would be matched for a transfusion with another with the same blood group, (which would be found in their "Soldbuch" or "Erkennungsmarke"). If there was no reaction within ten minutes of the blood being transfused between the patient and donor, it would be assumed the blood group was the same.

Not all W-SS men had the tattoo, particularly those who had transferred from other branches of the military to the W-SS, or those who transferred from the "Allgemeine SS". Not only W-SS members had the tattoo, because if a member of any other branch of the Wehrmacht was treated in an SS hospital, they would often have the tattoo applied.

The tattoo was applied to most in the early war years, but over the course of the war was gradually applied to fewer and fewer soldiers, and towards the end of the war, having the tattoo applied was more the exception rather than the rule. The application of the tattoo to foreign volunteers seems to be a contentious issue with some such as the "British Free Corps", whose terms of service stated that they were not required to have it, but other foreign units seem to have had no problem with the tattoo being applied to their persons. Very little information exists regarding the tattoo and foreign units, but it is claimed by some that Charlemagne (33.Waffen-Grenadier-Division der SS Charlemagne) men had the tattoo applied, and no doubt many other foreign members of the W-SS did too.

Johann Voss of the 6.SS-Gebirgs-Division "Nord" and author of "Black Edelweiss", did not have tattoo applied although the rest of his training company did, as he was visiting his father on that particular day, so even in relatively orderly situations, not all W-SS men had the tattoo.

Drawbacks

When the war ended, the Allies were keen to catch all W-SS members on account of the high volume of war crimes committed by some units. The blood group tattoo helped greatly in identifying former members, leading to the prosecution of guilty men, and in some cases the execution of W-SS men, regardless of whether or not they were actually guilty of war crimes.Fact|date=February 2007 Many W-SS men tried to remove the tattoo, some by burning it off with a cigarette, but the scar left behind was almost as incriminating, leading some to make a similar scar on the opposite side of the their arm and then claiming the scars were from a bullet which had passed through their arm. In these cases, the Allies would often X-ray the arm to see if any bone damage had occurred, as would have had a bullet actually passed through the arm at those points. Because of the lack of perfect consistency between having the tattoo and having served in the W-SS some SS veterans were able to escape detection, while others who had not served in that branch of the German military were falsely categorized as having done so.

Some members of the SS who evaded capture in part because they did not have the blood group tattoo included Josef Mengele and Alois Brunner. [cite news | title = In Syria, a Long-Hunted Nazi Talks | publisher = The New York Times | date = 1985-11-29] [cite journal | author = George J. Annas | title = Mengele’s Birthmark: The Nuremberg Code in United States Courts | year = 1991 | journal = The Journal of Contemporary Health Law and Policy | volume = 7 | pages = 17–46]

References