Identification in Nazi camps

A Nazi concentration camp identification tattoo

Identification of inmates in Nazi concentration camps was performed in two ways: by special badges and by identification numbers.

Badges

A chart, circa 1938 - 1942, of prisoner markings used in German concentration camps.

Prisoners' distinguishing badges, used in the Auschwitz Concentration Camp

Nazi concentration camp badges, made primarily of colored inverted triangles, were used in the concentration camps in the Nazi-occupied countries to identify the reason the prisoners had been placed there. The triangles were made of fabric and were sewn on jackets and shirts of the prisoners. These mandatory badges had specific meanings indicated by their color and shape. The system of badges varied between the camps.

Numbers

A practice was established to tattoo the inmate identification numbers. Initially, in Auschwitz, the camp numbers were sewn on the clothes. With the increased death rate it became difficult to identify corpses, since clothes were removed from corpses. Therefore the medical personnel started to write the numbers on the corpses' chests with indelible ink. Difficulties increased in 1941 when Soviet POWs came in masses, and the first few thousand tattoos were applied to them. This was done with a special stamp with the numbers to be tattooed composed of needles. The tattoo was applied to the upper left part of the breast. In March 1942, the same method was used in Birkenau.

Metal stamps turned out to be impractical, and later numbers were tattoed with a single needle on the left forearm.

The tattoo was the prisoner's camp number, sometimes with a special symbol added: some Jews had a triangle, and Roma had the letter "Z" (from German Zigeuner for "Gypsy"). In May 1944, the Jews received the letters "A" or "B" to indicate particular series of numbers.^[1]

See also

• IBM and the Holocaust

Notes

1. ^ Franciszek Piper and Teresa Swiebocka, eds., Auschwitz: Nazi Death Camp (Oswiecim: The Auschwitz-Birkenau State Museum, 1996), pp. 60-61.

Bibliography

• FAQ of the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum