Auschwitz prisoner arm patch?

[StefanM]

Any thoughts as to what is the small patch these female prisoners who were selected for labour at Auschwitz are wearing on their sleeves? Is it a Jewish star? I have not seen this patch before. The photo is from USHMM.

[bigmacglenn]

Those are indeed Star of David patches...

[StefanM]

This does not appear to be the familiar camp style winkel consisting of two overlaid cloth triangles to make up a star but seems to be a much smaller emblem or star on a white (or light coloured) background. The women also appear to be wearing a standard uniform dress and not the blue prisoner striped clothes so I wonder is this a German factory uniform of some kind?

[youthcollector1]

Indeed they are. However, I believe this would be a sub camp, and extremely rare. Jewish Auschwitz prisoners did not wear the star of David like other famous camp. I'll do some digging due to I have some close connection at the holocaust museum here in Houston. Very interesting though, thanks for sharing.

[CARL]

The prisoners shown in the image above could be part of the massive Monowitz workforce. Although the insignia certainly is the Star of David, as correctly stated above, it is not the generally recognised form. However, this shouldn't raise too many eyebrows as throughout the number of KL's within the system, which runs into the tens of thousands, the variations of uniform and prisoner insignia would indeed be vast. It is an interesting image though, thank you for sharing it with us.

Regards,

Carl

[Scout]

Yes, very interesting.

[TrondK]

The size and construction reminds me of the "P" workpatch. Yes i know the "P" patch is made better, but it looks like they have used a simple potato stamp and pieces of white cloth for the workers in this photo.

Thanks for sharing this interesting photo.

[StefanM]

The prisoners shown in the image above could be part of the massive Monowitz workforce. Although the insignia certainly is the Star of David, as correctly stated above, it is not the generally recognised form. However, this shouldn't raise too many eyebrows as throughout the number of KL's within the system, which runs into the tens of thousands, the variations of uniform and prisoner insignia would indeed be vast. It is an interesting image though, thank you for sharing it with us.

Regards,

Carl

I agree Monowitz is the likely destination of these Jewish slave labourers. The image is a closeup section from one of the series below that are part of the Auschwitz Album. The USHMM captions the original photo(s) as "Jewish women from Subcarpathian Rus who have been selected for forced labor at Auschwitz-Birkenau, march toward their barracks after disinfection and headshaving. Those pictured include Suri Birnbaum, Jachi Birnbaum, three Rieder sisters and Olga Rieder."





It would seem this group (above) either arrived wearing these uniform dresses with star patches of some kind on their left sleeves or were issued with both on their arrival as the main transport of Jewish women from Subcarpathian Rus pictured below are wearing an assortment of different clothing as one would expect. All three pictures were taken at the same transport arrival.





In the same image (first in set of three) there also appears to be another type of patch on one or two of the women's sleeves , a darker shape than the "star", which I hadn't noticed before?

[CARL]

Prisoners wearing clothing after completing the sauna process would indeed be issued with uniforms, as the clothing that they wore upon arrival would usually have been treated in the sauna building. The uniforms that these women are wearing appear relatively clean, save for the stained front on the lady with the bowed head's attire, which also adds to the consensus that these clothes have just been issued. The first two, and the final image of the four shown above were taken at Birkenau, with the unmistakable barracks in the background. The uniforms in question are not typical, that much is certain.

Regards,

Carl

[CARL]

Jewish Auschwitz prisoners did not wear the star of David

As you correctly point out, not the widely known yellow star no, but until the latter part of 1944, Jewish prisoners at KL-Auschwitz were distinguished by a coloured triangle, which indicated the classification of prisoner they had received as an inmate. For example, a red inverted triangle for political prisoners. This would be sewn onto a yellow triangle, thus forming a star. Later, a single yellow horizontal bar, spaced slightly above an inverted red, or otherwise appropriate colour triangle was used. To illustrate, I have attached an image from the Yad Vashem site, of Jewish boy Merenstein Memet, who arrived at KL-Auschwitz during September 1942. Note the insignia. Also shown is the general insignia chart, for inmates within the KL system.

Regards,

Carl