Object ID
2014.1.307
Object Name
Postcard
Files
Download Full Text (1.2 MB)
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
Rights Statement
