The Nazi's Use of Triangles in the Concentration Camps

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As thousands of people were being deported into the concentration camp they didn’t know who they were even standing next to or even having the thought of going into the pits of hungry lions. They were like rats trapped in the corner by the Nazi officers who were like cats ready to prance at them. As they were assigned to their barracks they relieved triangles made of fabric sewn on the jackets and shirts (“Nazi Concentration Camp Badges”). The badge of shame had seven different types of colors, and each color had a specific meaning (“The Holocaust Revealed”). I think that these triangles helped to identify the different types of people easily for the Nazi officers. Where did the triangles start from? Where did it all begin? This is the question we all ask, everything started from Dachau, the first concentration camp in Bavaria, Germany (“Dachau”). Dachau was just ten miles Northwest from a little city called Munich and built on March 20, 1933 (“The Holocaust”).It was located on an abandoned factory. This concentration camp led to other horrible camps such as Auschwitz and Birkenau (Youra). This concentration camp wasn’t like Auschwitz the death camp or extermination camp but it was more like a labor camp. They weren’t put into gas chambers and got killed, but most prisoners were worked to death (Dann 1). They worked in factories, repair shops, and many more, but many thousands of people were shot, beaten, tortured, and starved to death (Dann 2). Dachau was like hell for them or even much worse. The first year held four thousand eight hundred prisoners. The first people were primarily German communists, Social democrats, trade unions, political opponents. Later in time more people such as Jehovah’s Witness, homosexuals, and Gyp... ... middle of paper ... ...If they forget to wear their badges they were beaten to death. So they had signs reminding them to wear their badges where ever they were. But why would they not want to wear the badge? Sometimes they might forget but wouldn’t they have a real reason why? These badges weren’t just badges to tell each people apart they represented more then humiliation and shame it represented fear Rosenberg). The lowest rank was the Jews who felt humiliated everyday. Above them were the antisocial, criminals, gypsies, emigrants, political prisoners. Then the Jehovah’s Witness were the highest ranking (Schwartz). As you can see this color system gave many nightmares to many people’s lives, making them suffer through humiliations and laughter. For the Nazi officers it made their life easier by seeing who’s who by the color coded triangles instead of asking them individually.

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