Misplaced Pages

#894105

63-585: Nazi concentration camp badges , primarily triangles, were part of the system of identification in German camps . They were used in the concentration camps in the German-occupied countries to identify the reason the prisoners had been placed there. The triangles were made of fabric and were sewn on jackets and trousers of the prisoners. These mandatory badges of shame had specific meanings indicated by their colour and shape. Such emblems helped guards assign tasks to

126-417: A Star of David , a Jewish symbol. Like those who wore pink and green triangles, people in the bottom two categories would have been convicted in criminal courts. In addition to color-coding, non-German prisoners were marked by the first letter of the German name for their home country or ethnic group. Red triangle with a letter, for example: Polish emigrant laborers originally wore a purple diamond with

189-537: A "new dimension of fear". As the war continued, so did the openness of such decrees and orders. Despite the best attempts of Joseph Goebbels and the Propaganda Ministry (with its formidable domestic information control) to hide the program, people's diaries and periodicals of the time show that it became progressively known to the German public. Soldiers brought back information, families on rare occasion heard from or about loved ones and Allied news sources and

252-729: A camp did not have a gas chamber of its own, the so-called Muselmänner , or prisoners who were too sick to work, were often murdered or transferred to other concentration camps for extermination. When the Allies liberated Paris and Brussels , the SS transported many of its remaining Nacht und Nebel prisoners to concentration camps deeper in Nazi-controlled territory, such as Ravensbrück concentration camp for women, Mauthausen-Gusen concentration camp , Buchenwald concentration camp , Schloss Hartheim , or Flossenbürg concentration camp . Early in

315-584: A number, but it came from their time at Auschwitz. Metal stamps turned out to be impractical, and later numbers were tattooed with a single needle on the left forearm. The tattoo was the prisoner's camp entry number, sometimes with a special symbol added: some Jews had a triangle, and Romani had the letter "Z" (from German Zigeuner for "Gypsy"). In May 1944, the Jewish men received the letters "A" or "B" to indicate particular series of numbers. For unknown reasons, this number series for women never began again with

378-690: A plain black triangle. They were considered either too "selfish" or "deviant" to contribute to society or were considered too impaired to support themselves. They were therefore considered a burden. This category included pacifists and conscription resisters, petty or habitual criminals, the mentally ill and the mentally and/or physically disabled. They were usually executed. The Wehrmacht Strafbattalion (punishment battalion) and SS Bewährungstruppe (probation company) were military punishment units. They consisted of Wehrmacht and SS military criminals, SS personnel convicted by an Honor Court of bad conduct and civilian criminals for which military service

441-594: A private room), luxuries (like tobacco or alcohol) and access to the camp's facilities (like the showers or the pool). Failure to please their captors meant demotion and loss of privileges and an almost certain death at the hands of their fellow inmates. Detainees wearing civilian clothing (more common later in the war) instead of the striped uniforms were often marked with a prominent X on the back. This made for an ersatz prisoner uniform. For permanence, such Xs were made with white oil paint, with sewn-on cloth strips, or were cut (with underlying jacket-liner fabric providing

504-536: A scant meal. They were confined in cold and starving conditions; many had dysentery or other illnesses, and the weakest were often beaten to death, shot, guillotined, or hanged, while the others were subjected to torture by the Germans. When the inmates were totally exhausted or if they were too ill or too weak to work, they were then transferred to the Revier ( Krankenrevier , sick barrack) or other places for extermination. If

567-406: A time with standing room only into slow-moving, dirty cattle wagons with little or no food or water on journeys lasting up to five days to their next unknown destination. At the camps, the prisoners were forced to stand for hours in freezing and wet conditions at 5:00 a.m. every morning, standing strictly to attention, before being sent to work a twelve-hour day with only a twenty-minute break for

630-708: A trace. B. No information may be given as to their whereabouts or their fate. Reinhard Heydrich 's Sicherheitsdienst (Security Service; SD) was given the responsibility to oversee and carry out the Nacht und Nebel decree. The SD was mainly an information-gathering agency , while the Gestapo operated as the main executive agency of the political police system. The decree aimed to intimidate local populations into submission, by denying friends and families of seized persons any knowledge of their whereabouts or their fate. The prisoners were secretly transported to Germany and vanished without

693-441: A trace. In 1945, abandoned SD records were found to include merely names and the initials "NN" ( Nacht und Nebel ); even the sites of graves were unrecorded. The Nazis even coined a new term for those who "vanished" in accordance with this decree; they were vernebelt —"transformed into mist". To this day, it is not known how many people disappeared as a result of this decree. The International Military Tribunal at Nuremberg held that

SECTION 10

#1732898953895

756-478: A trainload of new arrivals from France. Detainees wearing civilian clothing (more common later in the war) instead of the striped uniforms were often marked with a prominent X on the back. This made for an ersatz prisoner uniform. For permanence, such X s were made with white oil paint, with sewn-on cloth strips, or were cut (with underlying jacket-liner fabric providing the contrasting color). Detainees would be compelled to sew their number and (if applicable)

819-463: A triangle emblem onto the fronts of such X -ed clothing. Armbands were used within the camps to identify kapos , camp "police" (detainees assigned to keep order among their fellow detainees), and certain work crew leaders. Armbands were also in use among detainees sent to perform forced labor in factories outside the camps. Nacht und Nebel Nacht und Nebel ( German : [ˈnaxt ʔʊnt ˈneːbl̩] ), meaning Night and Fog , also known as

882-710: A triangular black headcloth. According to historian Wolfgang Sofsky: Prisoners of the Nacht und Nebel transports were marked by broad red bands; on their backs and both trouser legs was a cross, with the letters "NN" to its right. From these emblems, it was possible to recognize immediately what class a prisoner belonged to and how he or she was pigeonholed and evaluated by the SS. The prisoners were often moved apparently at random from prison to prison such as Fresnes Prison in Paris, Waldheim near Dresden , Leipzig , Potsdam , Lübeck , and Stettin . The deportees were sometimes herded 80 at

945-457: A yellow backing. A letter P (for Polen ) was cut out of the purple cloth to show the yellow backing beneath. Furthermore, repeat offenders ( rückfällige , meaning recidivists) would receive bars over their stars or triangles, a different colour for a different crime. Later in the war (late 1944), to save cloth Jewish prisoners wore a yellow bar over a regular point-down triangle to indicate their status. For instance, regular Jews would wear

1008-455: A yellow bar over a red triangle while Jewish criminals would wear a yellow bar over a green triangle. Many various markings and combinations existed. A prisoner would usually have at least two and possibly more than six. Limited preventative custody detainee ( Befristete Vorbeugungshaft Häftling , or BV) was the term for general criminals (who wore green triangles with no special marks). They originally were only supposed to be incarcerated at

1071-479: A yellow triangle is generally more evocative of the Jewish victims. In June 2020, the re-election campaign of Donald Trump posted an advertisement on Facebook stating that "Dangerous MOBS of far-left groups are running through our streets and causing absolute mayhem" and identifying them as " ANTIFA ", accompanied by a graphic of a downward-pointing red triangle. The ads appeared on the Facebook pages of Donald Trump,

1134-561: Is based on the badge coding system used before and during the early stages of the war in the Dachau concentration camp , which had one of the more elaborate coding systems. Shape was chosen by analogy with the common triangular road hazard signs in Germany that denote warnings to motorists. Here, a triangle is called inverted because its base is up while one of its angles points down. Double-triangle badges resembled two superimposed triangles forming

1197-611: Is documented in German since the beginning of the 17th century. It was used by Wagner in Das Rheingold (1869) and has since been adopted into everyday German (e.g., it appears in Thomas Mann 's The Magic Mountain ). It is not clear whether the term Nacht-und-Nebel-Erlass ("Night and Fog directive") had been in wide circulation or used publicly before 1945. The designation "NN" was sometimes used, however, to refer to prisoners and deportees ("NN-Gefangener", "NN-Häftling", "NN-Sache") at

1260-657: The BBC were able to get past censorship sporadically. Although captured archives from the SD contain numerous orders stamped with "NN" ( Nacht und Nebel ), it has never been determined exactly how many people disappeared as a result of the decree. Doubts among the Allies about the atrocities being committed by the Nazis were pushed aside when the French entered the Natzweiler-Struthof camp (one of

1323-580: The Gestapo : After lengthy consideration, it is the will of the Führer that the measures taken against those who are guilty of offenses against the Reich or against the occupation forces in occupied areas should be altered. The Führer is of the opinion that, in such cases, penal servitude or even a hard labor sentence for life will be regarded as a sign of weakness. An effective and lasting deterrent can be achieved only by

SECTION 20

#1732898953895

1386-476: The Nacht und Nebel facilities) on 23 November, 1944, and discovered a chamber where victims were hung by their wrists from hooks to accommodate the process of pumping poisonous Zyklon-B gas into the room. Keitel later testified at the Nuremberg Trials that of all the illegal orders he had carried out, the Nacht und Nebel decree was "the worst of all". Former Supreme Court Justice and chief prosecutor at

1449-468: The Netherlands , and Norway . They were usually arrested in the middle of the night and quickly taken to prisons hundreds of kilometres away for questioning, eventually arriving at concentration camps such as Natzweiler , Esterwegen , or Gross-Rosen , if they survived. Natzweiler concentration camp, in particular, became an isolation camp for political prisoners from northern and western Europe under

1512-681: The Night and Fog Decree , was a directive issued by Adolf Hitler on 7 December, 1941 targeting political activists and resistance "helpers" in the territories occupied by Nazi Germany during World War II , who were to be imprisoned, executed, or made to disappear , while the family and the population remained uncertain as to the fate or whereabouts of the alleged offender against the Nazi occupation power. Victims who disappeared in these clandestine actions were often never heard from again. The alliterative hendiadys Nacht und Nebel ( German for "Night and Fog")

1575-518: The "B" series after they had reached the number limit of 20,000 for the "A" series. Colored inverted triangles were used in the concentration camps in the German-occupied countries to identify the reason the prisoners had been placed there. The triangles were made of fabric and were sewn on jackets and shirts of the prisoners. These mandatory badges had specific meanings indicated by their color and shape. The system of badges varied somewhat between

1638-451: The German government of specific misconduct because it obscured whether or not internment or death had even occurred, let alone the cause of the person's disappearance. It thereby kept the Nazis from being held accountable. It allowed across-the-board, silent defiance of international treaties and conventions – one cannot apply the requirements for humane treatment in war if one cannot locate a victim or discern that victim's fate. Additionally,

1701-519: The Netherlands, Luxembourg, and Norway. However, eventually some of those imprisoned under the Nacht und Nebel Erlass came from Poland, Hungary, Greece, Yugoslavia, Slovakia, and Italy. On 12 December, Keitel issued a directive explaining Hitler's orders: Efficient and enduring intimidation can only be achieved either by capital punishment or by measures by which the relatives of the criminals do not know

1764-486: The Trump campaign, and Vice President Mike Pence . Many observers compared the graphic to the symbol used by the Nazis for identifying political prisoners such as communists , social democrats and socialists . Many noted the number of ads – 88 – which is associated with neo-Nazis and white supremacists. As an example of the public outcry against the use of the downward-pointing red triangle, as reported by MotherJones ,

1827-657: The Twitter account (@jewishaction), the account of Bend the Arc: Jewish Action, a Progressive Jewish site stated: "The President of the United States is campaigning for reelection using a Nazi concentration camp symbol. Nazis used the red triangle to mark political prisoners and people who rescued Jews. Trump & the RNC are using it to smear millions of protestors. Their masks are off. pic.twitter.com/UzmzDaRBup" Facebook removed

1890-558: The activities of Nacht und Nebel , operating with similar methods. Hitler and his upper-level staff made a critical decision not to conform to what they considered unnecessary rules, and in the process, abandoned "all chivalry towards the opponent" and removed "every traditional restraint on warfare". During the Nuremberg trial of the High Command of the Wehrmacht (OKW) in 1945-1946,

1953-673: The appropriate authorities in the form of "guidelines" and likewise issued a secret decree containing more detailed instructions for its implementation. Essentially, the decree was about how to more effectively combat the increasing resistance actions in the territories occupied by Germany in Western Europe after the June 1941 beginning of the Axis war against the Soviet Union . The "Night and Fog" decree originally concerned only nationals of France, Belgium,

Nazi concentration camp badge - Misplaced Pages Continue

2016-435: The badge-imagery, with the use of a triangle being a sort of visual shorthand to symbolize all camp victims. The modern-day use of a pink triangle emblem to symbolize gay rights is a response to the camp identification patches. The system of badges varied between the camps and in the later stages of World War II the use of badges dwindled in some camps and became increasingly accidental in others. The following description

2079-613: The camp until their term expired and then they would be released. However, when the war began they were confined indefinitely for its duration. Erziehungshäftlinge (reformatory inmates) wore E or EH in large black letters on a white square. They were made up of intellectuals and respected community members who could organize and lead a resistance movement, suspicious persons picked up in sweeps or stopped at checkpoints, people caught performing conspiratorial activities or acts and inmates who broke work discipline. They were assigned to hard labor for six to eight weeks and were then released. It

2142-442: The campaign ads with the graphic, saying that its use in this context violated their policy against "organized hate". The Trump campaign's communications director wrote that "The red triangle is a common Antifa symbol used in an ad about Antifa." Historian Mark Bray, author of Antifa: The Anti-Fascist Handbook , disputed this, saying that the symbol is not associated with Antifa in the United States. Some sources have suggested that

2205-454: The camps. On such monuments, typically an inverted (point down, base up) triangle (especially if red) evokes all victims, including also the non-Jewish victims like Poles and other Slavs, communists, homosexuals, Roma and Sinti (see Porajmos ), people with disability (see Action T4 ), Soviet POWs and Jehovah's Witnesses . An inverted triangle colored pink would symbolize gay male victims. A non-inverted (base down, point up) triangle and/or

2268-442: The camps. Such emblems helped guards assign tasks to the detainees: for example, a guard at a glance could see if someone were a convicted criminal (green patch) and thus likely of a "tough" temperament suitable for kapo duty. Someone with an "escape suspect" mark usually would not be assigned to work squads operating outside the camp fence. Someone wearing an F could be called upon to help translate guards' spoken instructions to

2331-404: The contrasting color). Detainees would be compelled to sew their number and (if applicable) a triangle emblem onto the fronts of such X-ed clothing. Triangle-motifs appear on many postwar memorials to the victims of the Nazis. Most triangles are plain while some others bear nationality-letters . The otherwise potentially puzzling designs are a direct reference to the identification patches used in

2394-489: The death penalty or by taking measures which will leave the family and the population uncertain as to the fate of the offender. Deportation to Germany serves this purpose. At the Armed Forces High Command, Generalfeldmarschall Wilhelm Keitel had also received a so-called "Führer's decree" from Hitler on 7 December, 1941, and while this order was not documented in writing, Keitel immediately passed it on to

2457-420: The decree's mandate. When the concentration camps in the east and west of German-occupied Europe were dissolved in the face of the advancing Allied armies and their inmates evacuated - often on cruel death-marches - centrally located camps such as Dachau and Mauthausen at the end of World War II filled with thousands of NN prisoners, whose special status was largely lost in the chaos of the last months before

2520-455: The detainees. For example, a guard at a glance could see if someone was a convicted criminal (green patch) and thus likely of a tough temperament suitable for kapo duty. Someone with an escape suspect mark usually would not be assigned to work squads operating outside the camp fence. Someone wearing an F could be called upon to help translate guards' spoken instructions to a trainload of new arrivals from France. Some historical monuments quote

2583-500: The disappearances committed as part of the Nacht und Nebel program were war crimes which violated both the Hague Conventions and customary international law . Himmler immediately communicated Keitel's directive to various SS stations, and within six months, Richard Glücks sent the decree to the commanders of concentration camps. The Nacht und Nebel prisoners were mostly from France , Belgium , Luxembourg , Denmark ,

Nazi concentration camp badge - Misplaced Pages Continue

2646-409: The fate of the criminal. Three months later Keitel further expanded on this principle in a February 1942 letter stating that any prisoners not executed within eight days were to be handed over to the Gestapo and: to be transported to Germany secretly, and further treatment of the offenders will take place here; these measures will have a deterrent effect because - A. The prisoners will vanish without

2709-674: The few who had not been shot out of hand or died of neglect from untreated wounds, exposure to the elements, or starvation before they could reach a camp. They performed hard labor. Some joined Andrey Vlasov 's Liberation Army to fight for the Germans. Labor education detainees ( Arbeitserziehung Häftling ) wore a white letter A on their black triangle. This stood for Arbeitsscheuer ("work-shy person"), designating stereotypically "lazy" social undesirables like Gypsies, petty criminals (e.g. prostitutes and pickpockets), alcoholics/drug addicts and vagrants. They were usually assigned to work at labor camps. Asoziale (anti-socials) inmates wore

2772-512: The first few thousand tattoos were applied to them. This was done with a special stamp with the numbers to be tattooed composed of needles. The tattoo was applied to the upper left part of the breast. In March 1942, the same method was used in Birkenau . The common belief that all concentration camps put tattoos on inmates is not true. The misconception is because Auschwitz inmates were often sent to other camps and liberated from there. They would show

2835-484: The following directives are to be applied: I. Within the occupied territories, the adequate punishment for offences committed against the German State or the occupying power which endanger their security or a state of readiness is on principle the death penalty. II. The offences listed in paragraph I as a rule are to be dealt with in the occupied countries only if it is probable that sentence of death will be passed upon

2898-466: The head of the legal department in the OKW, Ministerial Director and General Dr. Rudolf Lehmann , testified that Hitler had literally demanded that opponents of the regime, who could not be immediately given a short trial should be brought across the border to Germany in the "Night and Fog" and remain isolated there. On 7 December 1941, Reichsführer-SS Heinrich Himmler issued the following instructions to

2961-483: The international Nuremberg trial, Robert H. Jackson listed the "terrifying" Nacht und Nebel decree with the other crimes committed by the Nazis in his closing address. In part because of his role in carrying out this decree, Keitel was sentenced to death by hanging , despite his insistence on being shot instead due to his military service and rank. At 1:20 a.m. on 16 October 1946 Keitel defiantly shouted out, " Alles für Deutschland! Deutschland über alles! " just before

3024-479: The inverted red triangle symbol used by Hamas in its propaganda videos is reminiscent of the same red triangle used by the Nazis, with regards to antisemitism during the ongoing Israel-Hamas war . However, the Nazis used the inverted red triangle to identify prisoners with political views opposed to Nazism, not necessarily Jewish prisoners. Informational notes Citations Bibliography Identification of inmates in German concentration camps A practice

3087-718: The issuing of the Nacht und Nebel decree in December 1941, prisoners from Western Europe were handled by German soldiers in approximately the same way as by other countries: according to international agreements and procedures such as the Geneva Conventions . However, the AB-Aktion ( German : Außerordentliche Befriedungsaktion , lit.   'Extraordinary Operation of Pacification') in German-occupied Poland (carried out from 1940 onwards) presaged and paralleled

3150-612: The letter PSV ( Polizeilich Sicherungsverwahrt ) to designate them. They were people awaiting trial by a police court-martial or who were already convicted. They were detained in a special jail barracks until they were executed. Some camps assigned Nacht und Nebel (night and fog) prisoners had them wear two large letters NN in yellow. Soviet prisoners of war ( russische Kriegsgefangenen ) assigned to work camps ( Arbeitslager ) wore two large letters SU (for sowjetischer Untermensch , meaning Soviet sub-human) in yellow and had vertical stripes painted on their uniforms. They were

3213-457: The liberation. Up to 30 April 1944, at least 6,639 persons had been arrested under Nacht und Nebel orders. Some 340 of them may have been executed. The 1956 film Night and Fog , directed by Alain Resnais , uses the term to illustrate one aspect of the concentration-camp system as it morphed into a system of labour- and death-camps. Directives for the prosecution of offences committed within

SECTION 50

#1732898953895

3276-463: The occupied territories against the German State or the occupying power, of 7 December 1941. Within the occupied territories, communistic elements and other circles hostile to Germany have increased their efforts against the German State and the occupying powers since the Russian campaign started. The amount and the danger of these machinations oblige us to take severe measures as a deterrent. First of all

3339-453: The offender, at least the principal offender, and if the trial and the execution can be completed in a very short time. Otherwise the offenders, at least the principal offenders, are to be taken to Germany. III. Prisoners taken to Germany are subject to military procedure only if particular military interests require this. In case German or foreign authorities inquire about such prisoners, they are to be told that they have been arrested but that

3402-399: The policy lessened German subjects' moral qualms about the Nazi regime, as well as their desire to speak out against it, by keeping the general public ignorant of the regime's malfeasance and by creating extreme pressure for service members to remain silent. The Nacht und Nebel prisoners' hair was shaved, and the women were given a convict costume of a thin cotton dress, wooden sandals, and

3465-862: The proceedings do not allow any further information. IV. The Commanders in the occupied territories and the Court authorities within the framework of their jurisdiction, are personally responsible for the observance of this decree. V. The Chief of the High Command of the Armed Forces determines in which occupied territories this decree is to be applied. He is authorized to explain and to issue executive orders and supplements. The Reich Minister of Justice will issue executive orders within his own jurisdiction. The reasons for Nacht und Nebel were many. The policy, enforced in Nazi-occupied countries, meant that whenever someone

3528-592: The red roundel under their black Strafkompanie roundel. A prisoner-functionary ( Funktionshäftling ), or kapo (boss), wore a cloth brassard (their Kennzeichen , or identifying mark) to indicate their status. They served as camp guards ( Lagerpolizei ), barracks clerks ( Blockschreiber ) and the senior prisoners ( ältesten , meaning elders) at the camp ( lagerältester ), barracks ( blockältester ) and room ( stubenältester ) levels of camp organization. They received privileges like bigger and sometimes better food rations, better quarters (or even

3591-480: The time. Even before the Holocaust gained momentum c.  1941 , the Nazis had begun rounding up political prisoners - both within Germany and in occupied Europe . Most of the early prisoners were of two sorts: they were either political prisoners of personal conviction or of the belief, whom the Nazis deemed in need of "re-education" to Nazi ideals, or resistance leaders in occupied western Europe. Up until

3654-453: The war, the program caused the mass execution of political prisoners, especially Soviet POWs, who in early 1942, outnumbered the Jews in number of deaths even at Auschwitz . As the transports grew and Hitler's troops moved across Europe, that ratio changed dramatically. The Nacht und Nebel decree was carried out surreptitiously, but it set the background for orders that would follow and established

3717-408: Was an example of a regular unit created from such personnel. A Strafkompanie (punishment company) was a hard labor unit in the camps. Inmates assigned to it wore a black roundel bordered white under their triangle patch. Prisoners "suspected of [attempting to] escape" ( Fluchtverdächtiger ) wore a red roundel bordered white under their triangle patch. If also assigned to hard labor, they wore

3780-516: Was arrested, the family would learn nothing about the person's fate. The people arrested, sometimes only suspected resisters, were secretly sent to Germany and perhaps to a concentration camp. Whether they lived or died, the Germans would give out no information to the families involved. This was done to keep the population in occupied countries quiet by promoting an atmosphere of mystery, fear and terror. The program made it far more difficult for other governments or humanitarian organisations to accuse

3843-500: Was either the assigned punishment or a voluntary replacement of imprisonment. They wore regular uniforms, but were forbidden rank or unit insignia until they had proven themselves in combat. They wore an uninverted (point-upwards) red triangle on their upper sleeves to indicate their status. Most were used for hard labor, "special tasks" (unwanted dangerous jobs like defusing landmines or running phone cables) or were used as forlorn hopes or cannon fodder . The infamous Dirlewanger Brigade

SECTION 60

#1732898953895

3906-558: Was established to tattoo the inmates with identification numbers. Prisoners sent straight to gas chambers didn't receive anything. Initially, in Auschwitz , the camp numbers were sewn on the clothes; with the increased death rate, it became difficult to identify corpses, since clothes were removed from corpses. Therefore, the medical personnel started to write the numbers on the corpses' chests with indelible ink . Difficulties increased in 1941 when Soviet prisoners of war came in masses, and

3969-477: Was hoped that the threat of permanent incarceration at hard labor would deter them from further action. Polizeihäftlinge (police inmates), short for Polizeilich Sicherungsverwahrte Häftlinge (police secure custody inmates), wore either PH in large black letters on a white square or the letter S (for Sicherungsverwahrt – secure custody) on a green triangle. To save expense, some camps had them just wear their civilian clothes without markings. Records used

#894105