AboutDylan Pemberton Expertise My area of interest is the holocaust with particular reference to the Auschwitz Birkenau extermination camp. I can answer most questions regarding the lead up to and the ultimate deployment of 'The Final Solution' including the Wannsee Conference, ghetto liquidations, the Nuremberg Trials, post-war 'Nazi Hunting' by the likes of Simon Weisenthal etc. My knowledge / experience is perhaps best suited to someone who - for example - had a homework / coursework assignment in this area as opposed to a professional interest in which case there are, naturally, recognised experts and historians available.
Experience Lifelong interest in ensuring the events of the holocaust are never forgotten, visits to Auschwitz Birkenau and extensive literature on the subject.
Education/Credentials 10 GCSE's, several A-Levels, BTEC National Diploma Graphic Design, 15 years senior level business experience.
Expert: Dylan Pemberton Date: 8/28/2007 Subject: Number Tattoo
Question My great grandmother had numbers tattooed on her inner arm, much like a Jewish prisoner during WWII. However, she lived in America during WWII, so that couldn't have been the reason. I know she grew up in Italy and was there until the 1920's. Any idea if there is some historical reason for this number? Did Italy tattoo people for any reason? Perhaps during WWI?
Answer Hi Jessica, what a fascinating mystery - I can see why you want to find out more about it!
Unfortunately, if the tattoo was unconnected to World War II in her case then I can only make assumptions, also you did not state if she was Jewish (or a Gypsy etc). Fascism rose in the late 1920's in Italy but even then - I have never heard of people being tattooed in connection to that although many heinous things happened. Additionally, I never heard of people being tattooed in Italy even during WWII and it was a practice that didn't even get deployed by the Nazis until 1940/1941 as described below. I have however heard that some branches of the Naples and Sicilian Mafia did / do use unique tattoos to show allegiances so this might be something you may wish to explore.
The origin of the tattoo in the case of war may not necessarily have been unique to the Nazis (for example, people were actually 'branded' with shaped hot irons in the American Civil War and even in WW1) but it was certainly the most notable and despicable use of the tattoo in terms of the context it was used. In this case it was originated in the following way; in Auschwitz the camp numbers were initially sewn onto the clothes. With the increased death rate it became difficult to identify corpses since clothes were removed from the corpses. Therefore the medical personnel started to write the numbers on the corpses' chests with indelible ink. Difficulties increased in 1941 when Soviet POWs came in masses and the first several 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. Metal stamps turned out to be impractical and later tattooing was done with a single needle on the left forearm.
The tattoo was typically the prisoners camp number sometimes augmented with a special symbol (some Jews with a triangle, Roma with letter "Z" from German Zigeuner for "Gypsy"). In May 1944 the Jews received letters "A" or "B" to indicate particular series of numbers.
What would be really helpful is if you could describe the tattoo any further and describe any nuance of her life that may have put her in a position where she may have ended up with one?
