Soviet labour camp patch

[StefanM]

I had not realised that Soviet prisoners in the Soviet labour camps were assigned number patches such as this example from the Memorial Society archive in Russia:



Above: Labour camp personal number, Inta, Komi Republic, 1944

Also from the archive a cover (below) of a handwritten book of memoirs by a Russian inmate of Mauthausen camp. Something new also, I did not know there was ever a red political winkel with "R" for Russian inmates or is this artistic license?

[SteveR]

1st one that I have seen. Thanks for showing.

[StefanM]

You just don't see gulag materials for sale but I there must be a collectors market and dealers?

[Gunny Hartmann]

I had not realised that Soviet prisoners in the Soviet labour camps were assigned number patches such as this example from the Memorial Society archive in Russia:



Above: Labour camp personal number, Inta, Komi Republic, 1944

Also from the archive a cover (below) of a handwritten book of memoirs by a Russian inmate of Mauthausen camp. Something new also, I did not know there was ever a red political winkel with "R" for Russian inmates or is this artistic license?

There may have been an "R" patch, as you can see there was a "P" for Poles And "T" for Czechs!..

[StefanM]

The usual German mark for Soviet prisoners was "SU" rather than "R" but I am no expert on this subject.

[CARL]

Actually, yes. There was an "R" marked winkel for such prisoners. This image was taken of a group of female inmates of KZ-Aussenlager Holleischen - a former sub-camp of KZ-Flossenbürg, shortly after liberation and reproduced to augment my recent article published in the After The Battle magazine addressing the camp. The woman to the right on the back row, clearly wears such a patch.

The various insignia of Konzentrationslagers inmates is addressed briefly in this thread:

Konzentrationslagers Prisoner Identification Insignia

[HPL2008]

There may have been an "R" patch, as you can see there was a "P" for Poles And "T" for Czechs!..

Quite right; but either these two are only meant as examples or this period chart is from the time after the Polish campaign but before the further conquests/annexations.

There were various others. Carl is surely more knowledgable on this matter, but I am aware of the following nationality markings:

• B [Belgier / Belgien] for Belgian prisoners
• F [Franzose / Frankreich] for French prisoners
• I [Italiener / Italien] for Italian prisoners
• J [Jugoslawe / Jugoslawien] for Yugoslav prisoners
• N [Niederländer / Niederlande] for Dutch prisoners
• P [Pole / Polen] for Polish prisoners
• R [Russe / Russland] for Russian prisoners
• S [Spanier / Spanien] for Spanish prisoners
• SU [Sowjetunion] for Soviet prisoners (possibly only for Soviet POWs?)
• T [Tscheche / Tschechei] for Czech prisoners
• U [Ungar / Ungarn] for Hungarian prisoners

Sources:
Wollheim Memorial
http://www.jku.at/kanonistik/content...n_5_6_7_8_.pdf
Kennzeichnung der Häftlinge in den Konzentrationslagern
Nazi concentration camp badges - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

[StefanM]

Actually, yes. There was an "R" marked winkel for such prisoners. This image was taken of a group of female inmates of KZ-Aussenlager Holleischen - a former sub-camp of KZ-Flossenbürg, shortly after liberation and reproduced to augment my recent article published in the After The Battle magazine addressing the camp. The woman to the right on the back row, clearly wears such a patch.

The various insignia of Konzentrationslagers inmates is addressed briefly in this thread:

Konzentrationslagers Prisoner Identification Insignia

Thanks for this interesting photo reference, Carl. Do you know specifically when this photo was taken and who is credited with taking it?

[CARL]

Thanks for this interesting photo reference, Carl. Do you know specifically when this photo was taken and who is credited with taking it?

Not exactly Stefan. I received permission to reproduce the image from a Czech historian. From the information I gathered from him, the image was taken shortly after the liberation of the camp - so it is possible that it was taken by members of the Polish Brygada Świętokrzyska (The Holy Cross Mountain's Brigade) - who were the initial liberators, although perhaps it is more likely that the image was taken slightly later by the Allied forces who arrived soon after. There are more images of female prisoners from Holleischen, that were taken shortly after the camp was liberated. Most are scenes within the former Appellplatz (roll call area) or adjacent to the former accommodation buildings. These seem somewhat less staged than the image shown above. Some of the women did stay in the area for a while following their liberation, to recover and go through the repatriation process so it is conceivable that it was during this period that the image was taken.

[StefanM]

Not exactly Stefan. I received permission to reproduce the image from a Czech historian. From the information I gathered from him, the image was taken shortly after the liberation of the camp - so it is possible that it was taken by members of the Polish Brygada Świętokrzyska (The Holy Cross Mountain's Brigade) - who were the initial liberators, although perhaps it is more likely that the image was taken slightly later by the Allied forces who arrived soon after. There are more images of female prisoners from Holleischen, that were taken shortly after the camp was liberated. Most are scenes within the former Appellplatz (roll call area) or adjacent to the former accommodation buildings. These seem somewhat less staged than the image shown above. Some of the women did stay in the area for a while following their liberation, to recover and go through the repatriation process so it is conceivable that it was during this period that the image was taken.

Thanks Carl,

Given that there is a "Russian" in the photo this is very unlikely to have been taken by anyone in Brygada Świętokrzyska

Do you know if the "R" for "Russian" included Ukrainian and Byelorussian inmates in the camp system?

I would think the photo was taken sometime after liberation compared to the others from camp I have seen online which are as you say less staged. The other women in the photo seem to have plain winkels without any nationality letter unless the film has not recorded the letters as is sometimes apparent in photos of forced labour patches I have.

Does anyone know what numbering/identification system the Soviets used for various gulag inmates such as displayed in the OP photo? Would this number patch have been worn on the jacket only or were trousers also marked with such numbers?