Kennzeichen für Schutzhäftlinge in den Konzentrationslagern [“Identification of Protective Prisoners in Concentration Camps.”]

(HOLOCAUST)

Germany

c. 1938

Color printed on single page. Verso with stamp of the Commandant of the concentration camp of Neuengamme (near Hamburg).

In 1936 the Nazis introduced a system of prisoner-identification in concentration camps in order to provide SS guards a method to easily identify the race, nationality and prejudices of each prisoner. Inmates were forced to wear triangles of various colors on their uniforms, most well-known, is the “Jewish Star” comprised of two inverted yellow triangles. This chart depicts the various groups and their respective colors: Yellow for Jews, green for criminals, purple for Jehovah's Witnesses, pink for homosexuals, black for “asocial” (i.e. mental disease, addicts), brown for Roma, colored bars for prisoners with multiple classifications, etc.