Postcard of Nazi Concentration Camp Chart of Prisoner Markings

Authors

Object ID

2014.1.307

Object Name

Postcard

Files

Content Warning

The Bulmash Family Holocaust Collection consists of images, documents, and artifacts related to the Holocaust. The collection contains materials that depict a number of topics that may be difficult for viewers to engage with, including: antisemitic descriptions, caricatures, and representation of Jewish people; Nazi imagery and ideology; descriptions and images of German ghettos; graphic images of the violence of the Holocaust; and the creation of the State of Israel. For more information, see our policy page.

Description

Front: Reproduction of chart of concentration camp prisoner markings, describing the different colors, symbols and placement. Shapes are mostly triangles, with some circles, as well as Stars of David, colors include red, green, blue, purple, pink and black. The bottom righthand corner shows a prison uniform with the markings in their correct placement. Back: Blank postcard with purple text. A printed on purple stamp of Hitler's profile facing right in the top right corner next to the word 'Postkarte.'

Information Provided by Michael D. Bulmash:

The victims of the concentration camps were not just Jews. Political prisoners (Communists, Social Democrats, etc.), Jehovah’s Witnesses who refused to take an oath of allegiance to Hitler or serve in the Army, Homosexuals, Roma and Sinti, and Asocials (prostitutes, alcoholics, race offenders, etc.) also had to wear color-specific triangles.

The system of identification of prisoners utilizing colored inverted triangles with lettering sewn onto clothing representing prisoner’s alleged crime was first used in 1937-38. Jews were identified by two yellow triangles forming a star; if both triangles were indeed yellow, the prisoner would be marked as a Jew; and if one triangle of another color was surmounted on a yellow triangle, it would mean that the Jew in question would be identified as also being in that category. The colors represent the following:

Brown – Roma (Gypsy)

Violet – Jehovah’s Witness

Pink – Homosexual

Green – Habitual Criminals

Red – Political Prisoner

Black – Asocials (prostitutes, criminals, race offenders)

Blue – Emigrant.

Dimensions

5 3/4 x 3 3/4"

Keywords

Star of David, Reich seal, Hitler, Symbols, Uniform

Subcollection

Concentration

Recommended Citation

"Postcard of Nazi Concentration Camp Chart of Prisoner Markings" (2016). Bulmash Family Holocaust Collection. 2014.1.307.
https://digital.kenyon.edu/bulmash/565