Nazi concentration camp badges
|
|
Nazi concentration camp badges, made primarily of 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.
| Contents |
Badge coding system
The shape was chosen by analogy with the common triangular road hazard signs in Germany that denote warnings to motorists. Here, a triangle is called inverted because its base is up while one of its angles points down.
In addition to color-coding, some groups had to put letter insignia on their triangles to denote country of origin. Red triangle with a letter: "B" (Belgians), "F" (French), "I" (Italians), "P" (Poles), "T" (Czechs), "U" (Hungarians).
The most common forms of the badge were:
- Black inverted triangle
- A vagrant
- A Roma or Sinti
- A woman jailed for "anti-social behavior", i.e., a lesbian, a prostitute or woman who used birth control.
- Green inverted triangle — a regular criminal.
- Pink inverted triangle — a homosexual.
- Purple inverted triangle — a Jehovah's Witness.
- Red inverted triangle — a political prisoner. The color red was probably chosen because it represented the communists, the political enemies that the Nazis hated most (and the first to be officially outlawed).
Double triangles:
- Two superimposed yellow triangles forming the Star of David — a Jew, including Jews by practice or descent.
- Pink inverted triangle superimposed upon a yellow one, making the Star of David — a homosexual Jew.
- Yellow inverted triangle superimposed over a black triangle, or "voided" black inverted triangle superimposed over a yellow triangle — an Aryan convicted of miscegenation and labeled as a "race defiler."
There were many markings and combinations. A prisoner would typically have at least two, and possibly more than six.
Table of camp inmate markings
| Political Enemies | Habitual Criminals | Emigrants | Jehovah's Witnesses | Gay males | "Asocial" Women and Lesbians | ||
| Basic colors | Missing image Small-triangle-red.jpg Image:Small-triangle-red.jpg | 
| 
| 
| 
| 
| |
| Markings for Repeaters | 
| 
| 
| 
| Missing image Small-triangle-rep-pink.jpg Image:Small-triangle-rep-pink.jpg | 
| |
| Inmates of Penal Battalions | 
| Missing image Small-triangle-penal-green.jpg Image:Small-triangle-penal-green.jpg | 
| 
| Missing image Small-triangle-penal-pink.jpg Image:Small-triangle-penal-pink.jpg | 
| |
| Markings for Jews | 
| 
| 
|  See Note 1 | Missing image Small-triangle-jew-pink.jpg Image:Small-triangle-jew-pink.jpg | 
| |
| Special Markings | Missing image Small-triangle-raccce-defile-male.jpg Image:Small-triangle-raccce-defile-male.jpg Male Race Defiler |  Female Race Defiler | Missing image Small-triangle-escape.jpg Image:Small-triangle-escape.jpg Escape Suspect |  Inmate Number  |  | ||
 Pole: "P" on a red triangle |  Czech: "T" (the German word for Czech is Tschechen) on a red triangle |  Member of the Armed Forces: Uninverted red triangle | |||||
- (Plant 1988 and [1] (http://www.historyplace.com/worldwar2/holocaust/h-dach-early.htm))
Notes
- At first glance, this combination appears to be contradictory. However, the Nazi definition of "Jew", according to the Nuremberg Laws, included those of Jewish ancestry, and so it was possible for such people to actually hold other religions. Thus, "Jewish Jehovah's Witness", while perhaps unlikely, was by no means impossible.
See also
Reference
- Plant, Richard, The Pink Triangle: The Nazi War Against Homosexuals, Owl Books, 1988, ISBN 0805006001.
External links
- Stars, triangles and markings (http://www.us-israel.org/jsource/Holocaust/markings.html) - Jewish Virtual Library
- Gay Prisoners in Concentration Camps as Compared with Jehovah's Witnesses and Political Prisoners (http://www.us-israel.org/jsource/Holocaust/gaycomp.html) by Ruediger Lautmann
ja:ナチ強制収容所のバッジ de:Abzeichen in den Konzentrationslagern fr:Systme de marquage nazi des prisonniers
nl:Merktekens in Duitse concentratiekampen