Brown triangle (badge)

The brown triangle (Brauner Winkel) was a cloth badge used in the Nazi concentration camp prisoner-classification system. As with other colored triangular badges, its meaning depended on time, place, and administrative practice.[1]

History

In the early phase of the concentration camp system, prisoner markings were not yet fully standardized and could vary between camps.[1] According to the memoir of former Sachsenhausen prisoner Harry Naujoks, prisoners categorized as “asocial” were marked with the brown triangle until 1938.[2]

In the more standardized badge system that became established from the late 1930s onward, prisoners classified as “asocial” were generally identified with the black triangle.[3]

Use in relation to Sinti and Roma

The brown triangle was also used in connection with the persecution of Sinti and Roma in the camp system, but the chronology is described differently in institutional sources. Arolsen Archives states that Sinti and Roma in the concentration camps “initially wore the black triangle of ‘anti-social elements,’ but later on they were assigned a brown triangle to identify them as a separate group”.[4] By contrast, the German Historical Museum states that during the mass arrests of June 1938, several hundred Sinti and Roma deported to concentration camps were “initially marked with the brown triangle, later with the black triangle”.[5]

These differing descriptions reflect the fact that prisoner classification and marking practices were not always uniform across the camp system and changed over time.[1]

See also

References

  1. ^ a b c "Häftlingsgruppen im KZ: So stigmatisierten die Nazis ihre Opfer". Arolsen Archives (in German). 23 November 2023. Retrieved 14 March 2026.
  2. ^ Naujoks, Harry (1989). Mein Leben im KZ Sachsenhausen 1936–1942. Erinnerungen des ehemaligen Lagerältesten. Berlin: Dietz Verlag. p. 77. ISBN 3-320-01314-9.
  3. ^ "System of triangles". Auschwitz-Birkenau Memorial and Museum. Retrieved 14 March 2026.
  4. ^ "Prisoner categories and their abbreviations: The Nazis used abbreviations in the concentration camps to classify prisoners" (PDF). Arolsen Archives e-Guide. Retrieved 14 March 2026.
  5. ^ "Ausgrenzung und Verfolgung von Sinti und Roma". Deutsches Historisches Museum (in German). Retrieved 14 March 2026.
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