It is widely known that the Nazis forced Jewish people under their
jurisdiction to wear yellow stars of David, whether they were in the
community, in the ghettos or in the camps. The Nazis extended this
classification scheme to other prisoners interned in the camps. In one
common scheme, prisoners were classified according to crime and identified
with colored triangular cloth. Pink triangles, often larger than
triangles for other crimes, were used to identify men convicted of
homosexuality (paragraph 175 of the Reich
Penal Code), incest or pedophilia (paragraphs 174 and 176).
PHOTOUnited States Holocaust
Memorial Museum On-line photo archives -- photo 29013 A chart of
prisoner markings used in German concentration camps.
The horizontal categories list markings for the following types of
prisoners: political, professional criminal, emigrant, Jehovah's Witnesses,
homosexual, Germans shy of work, and other nationalities shy of work. The
vertical categories begin with the basic colors, and then show those for
repeat offenders, prisoners in punishment kommandos, Jews, Jews who have
violated racial laws by having sexual relations with Aryans, and Aryans who
violated racial laws by having sexual relations with Jews.
The remaining symbols give examples of marking patterns.
Credit line: KZ Gedenkstatte Dachau, courtesy of USHMM Photo Archives
Date: Circa 1938 - 1942
Locale: Dachau, Germany
Sources:
KZ Gedenkstatte Dachau , Dachau Ost, Germany
Dokumentationsarchiv des Osterreichischen Widerstandes , Vienna, Austria
Landauer Collection
Nationale Mahn- und Gedenkstatte Buchenwald , Weimar-Buchenwald, Germany