The Florida Holocaust Museum: History, Heritage and Hope Permanent ExhibitionMain MenuIntroductionAntisemitismJewish Life Prior to WWIIOther VictimsNazis in PowerThe Rising Tide of HateGhettoization and Final SolutionThe CampsResistance: Fighting BackLiberationAftermathPortraits of Courage & SacrificeLessons for TodayAcknowledgementsThe Florida Holocaust Museum
12016-11-03T08:49:20-04:00Personal Identification in the Camps22plain2020-06-24T13:56:13-04:00To quickly distinguish among the various groups of prisoners, concentration camp officials required prisoners to sew or otherwise attach colored patches and numbers to their uniforms. Additional marks, such as dots, further classified the prisoners. The red and white target symbol set apart those who had tried to escape. Jewish prisoners with compounding offenses wore two triangles to create a six-pointed star. For example, a Polish Jew would wear a yellow triangle overlaid with a red triangle.
Only the Auschwitz concentration camp complex tattooed prisoners for identification purposes. Initially, prisoners selected for work received serial numbers to sew onto their uniforms, but the high mortality rate and scarceness of proper clothing necessitated identification that could not be removed. The SS authorities introduced the practice of tattooing in order to identify the bodies of registered prisoners who had died.
A single-needle device pierced the outlines of serial number digits onto the skin of the inner or outer left forearm. Prisoners generally received their tattoos when they received their serial number number during registrations. Camp authorities did not register or tattoo prisoners who were sent directly to the gas chambers.
