Black triangle (badge)

An inverted black triangle, as used in badges.
Stolperstein commemorating "asocial and work-shy" individuals, remembering stigmatized and murdered people without fixed residence on Alexanderplatz in Berlin.

The inverted black triangle (German: schwarzer Winkel) was an identification badge used in Nazi concentration camps to mark prisoners designated "asocial" ("a(nti-)social")[1][2] and arbeitsscheu ("work-shy"). The Roma and Sinti people were considered asocial and tagged with the black triangle.[1][3] The Yenish were also counted among the "asocials".[4] The designation also included disabled individuals, alcoholics, beggars, homeless people, nomads, and prostitutes (though male sex workers were marked with the pink triangle), as well as violators of laws prohibiting sexual relations between Aryans and Jews.[1][2] Queer women, transmasculine individuals, and other transgender and queer people assigned female at birth were also deemed to be anti-social, including lesbians and others deemed as nonconformists.[2][5]

"Asocials" during the Nazi era

The term asocial was rooted in a nationalist and racial ideology, with a focus on eugenics. This also applies to "Lumpenproletariat" when occasionally used synonymously by Nazi ideologues and "asocial" researchers. A Nazi synonym that replaced "asocials" was community aliens, or Gemeinschaftsfremde.[6] A law against marginalized social groups was planned and in process but was prevented by the defeat of the Nazi regime in 1945.[7][8]

Among those arrested as asocial [there were] also enough people who could not be accused of anything other than, for example, having come to work late twice or taken unauthorized leave, changed jobs without permission from the labor office, "mistreated" their National Socialist domestic servant, earned their bread as a gigolo, and suchlike "offenses".[9]

The total number of prisoners classified as "asocials" or "professional criminals" in concentration camps is estimated at 60,000 to 80,000.[10]

Usage

The black triangle in the context of the marking system for prisoners in Nazi concentration camps.

Nazi

Main article: Nazi concentration camp badge

The symbol originates from Nazi Germany, where every prisoner had to wear a concentration camp badge on their prison clothes, of which the design and color categorized them according to the reason for their internment. The homeless were included, as were disabled people, alcoholics, those who habitually avoided labor and employment, draft evaders, pacifists, Roma and Sinti people, and others.[11][12]

Romani

Main article: Romani Holocaust

Romani first wore the black triangle with a Z notation (for Zigeuner, 'gypsy') to the right of the triangle's point.[13] Male Romani were later assigned a brown triangle in some camps.[14] Female Romani were still deemed asocials as they were stereotyped as petty criminals (prostitutes, kidnappers and fortune tellers).[15]

Disabled people

See also: Aktion T4

The Nazis marked disabled concentration camp inmates with a black triangle. Some United Kingdom-based groups concerned with the rights of disabled people have adopted the symbol in their campaigns,[16][17] citing press coverage and government policies - including changes to disability benefits and Disability Living Allowance, as the reasons for their campaigns.[18][19] "The Black Triangle List" was created to keep track of welfare-related deaths due to cuts by the Department for Work and Pensions.[20]

Aftermath

Order for the registration and combating of those incapable of community life (asocials) 1943, Decree No. 235 of the Reichsstatthalter in Styria, Sigfried Uiberreither

After the Nazi rule

In May 1946, the two former concentration camp prisoners Georg Tauber and Karl Jochheim-Armin published a magazine titled: Truth and Justice! "Black-Green". Internal information bulletin of the concentration camp inmates of Germany, the Black and Green, of which a total of three issues are known. Their goal was the moral recognition of the suffering of asocials and Berufsverbrecher (literally professional criminals) as well as the fight for material compensation for these two categories of concentration camp prisoners. In later issues of the magazine, the admission of "greens" and "blacks" to the administration of the care centers was demanded; the title of the third issue reads: Bi-monthly journal for truth and justice of all former concentration camp inmates and Nazi victims. The magazine also leveled sharp criticism at the behavior of former political prisoners and the negative portrayal of "black" and "green" prisoners in their publications, although they were aware of the problem of public conflicts among prisoner groups.[21]

Persistent stereotypes

Even after 1945, the term with the underlying complexes of ideas ("saboteur in the building of socialism", "socially harmful […], unwilling […], to integrate into society") remained part of stereotypical everyday thinking in German public opinion. "Asocials" were not recognized as victims of Nazi persecution even by other victims. In Hamburg, survivors of the concentration camps were divided into three categories: Category "I A" were "political conviction offenders", "I B" were non-criminal persecuted, under category "I C" "criminals" and "asocials" were subsumed. They received only material benefits immediately after liberation, some of which were later withdrawn, and were excluded from any compensation. Furthermore, they had to register at the labor offices. The counseling centers and associations, in which former concentration camp prisoners were also involved, often held the view that these criminals and asocials damaged the reputation of all survivors; this was true in both East and West Germany.[22] In the West German compensation law, asocials and Berufsverbrecher were not recognized as victims of persecution and, thus, not entitled to compensation.[23]

In the GDR, this tradition came into effect in the Penal Code of 1968 in § 249 "Endangering public order through asocial behavior", the "Asi paragraph".[24] Previously, courts had interpreted the Ordinance on Residence Restrictions of August 24, 1961 in such a way that persons "who could not be integrated into socialist society" could be sentenced to force labor.[25]

Of the approximately 230,000 people imprisoned in the GDR between 1960 and 1990 for political reasons, 130,000 were convicted as asocials for non-conformist lifestyles.[26]

Compensation

Asocials were not recognized as victims of Nazi persecution in either West Germany or East Germany. Therefore, there was also no targeted compensation for this group. Even in the GDR, widespread negative attitudes toward asocials prevented their full recognition as victims of Nazi persecution.[27]

The group of so-called asocials was not entitled under the Federal Supplementary Compensation Act for Victims of National Socialist Persecution (BEG) in West Germany.[28] As "persecuted for reasons of political opposition to National Socialism", cases were excluded from the outset "in which it was merely occasional expressions of displeasure, morally unjustified acts of violence, asocials as well as such persons who are determined to fight any state order, whatever it may be." The regulation of damages suffered by someone for reasons other than those finally listed in §1 of the Federal Compensation Law (in German, Bundesentschädigungsgesetz) was to take place elsewhere according to the will of the legislator of 1955.[29]

Only since 1988 has a fund based on the hardship guidelines of the General Law Regulating Compensation for War-Induced Losses (AKG) has granted surviving victims with a one-time grant, ongoing benefits and supplementary ongoing benefits in special financial emergencies under certain circumstances.[30] According to the Federal Government, a total of 205 surviving victims from the "asocials" group received a one-time payment of €2,556.46 in 2008.[31]

Legally imposed punishments are also considered unjust if they are judged as excessive, taking into account the circumstances of the time and, in particular, the wartime conditions. Benefits are also granted to persons who served prison sentences between 1933 and 1945 if these were based on criminal decisions that were annulled by law, for example after the Law on the Annulment of National Socialist Injustice Judgments in Criminal Justice of 1998. Persons who suffered a loss of liberty receive a one-time amount of €76.69 for each commenced month of imprisonment, up to a maximum total of €2,556.[32]

In early 2018, the social scientist Frank Nonnenmacher launched a petition together with the historians and political scientists Julia Hörath, Dagmar Lieske and Sylvia Köchl and the sociologist Andreas Kranebitter for the "recognition of 'asocials' and 'professional criminals' as victims of National Socialism". Among the initial signatories were, among others, Volker Beck, Micha Brumlik, Daniel Cohn-Bendit, Detlef Garbe, Barbara Glück, Jürgen Habermas, Benno Hafeneger, Wilhelm Heitmeyer, Peter Tauber, Wolfgang Thierse, Konstantin Wecker and Michael Wildt. Thanks to Nonnenmacher's initiative, official recognition by the Bundestag took place in February 2020.[33][34]

Recognition of the victims and subsequent developments

The German Bundestag decided on February 13, 2020, to recognize the persecution of victims designated by the Nazis as "asocials" and "professional criminals" and to commemorate them in a special way. At the same time, the government was tasked with taking a number of relevant measures. The exhibition announced at the time has been viewable online since June 2022, but relevant research is still pending.[35]

During 2023, MDR, Südwestrundfunk and the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung urged the implementation of the 2020 decision.[36][37][38]

Commemoration at Sachsenhausen Memorial

On July 18, 2023, the victims' association unveiled a memorial stele designed by Ines Dietrich at the Sachsenhausen concentration camp memorial and museum to commemorate the prisoners persecuted as "asocials".[39][40]

Film

The documentary film by the Initiative for a Memorial Site Former Uckermark concentration camp e.V. in cooperation with the Austrian Camp Community: …that it is still like that today – Continuities of Exclusion exemplarily describes the history of persecution and stigmatization of so-called asocials under the Nazi Regime.[41]

Theater play

Theater maker Harald Hahn developed a theater piece Monologue with my "asocial" grandfather – A prisoner in Buchenwald.[42]

See also

  • Ableism – Discrimination on grounds of disability
  • Antiziganism – Racism against Romani people
  • Aktion Arbeitsscheu Reich – Waves of Nazi arrests of people deemed "socially undesirable"
  • Anti-homelessness legislation – Laws regarding homelessness
  • Discrimination – Prejudicial treatment based on membership in a certain group
  • Discrimination against disabled people – Discrimination on grounds of disability
  • Discrimination against homeless people
  • Discrimination against lesbians – Irrational fear of, and aversion to, lesbians
  • Identification in Nazi camps – Prisoners' camp identification numbers, cloth emblems, and armbands
  • LGBTQ symbols – Flags and symbols used by the LGBTQ community
  • Persecution of Chinese people in Nazi Germany
  • Romani genocide – Genocide of the Romani in Europe during World War II
  • Nazi concentration camp badge § Single triangles
    • Blue triangle – Cloth emblems; part of the system of identification in Nazi camps
    • Brown triangle – Genocide of the Romani in Europe during World War II
    • Green triangle – Cloth emblems; part of the system of identification in Nazi camps
    • P (Nazi symbol) – Sign for Polish workers during the NS-Regime in Nazi Germany
    • Pink triangle – Symbol for the LGBTQIA+ community
    • Red triangle (badge) – Symbol of anti-fascism
    • Yellow badge – Badge forced to be worn by Jews

References

  1. ^ a b c "System of triangles". Auschwitz-Birkenau State Museum.
  2. ^ a b c Elman, Amy (Winter 1996–97). "Triangles and Tribulations: The Gay Appropriation of Nazi Symbols" (PDF). Trouble & Strife (34): 62–66. Retrieved 10 June 2021. An earlier version of this article appeared in Journal of Homosexuality, Vol. 30, issue 3, 1996. (doi:10.1300/J082v30n03_01. PMID 8743114. ISSN 0091-8369.)
  3. ^ "Roma and Sinti (Gypsies) Prisoners". Priddy Library. Universities at Shady Grove.
  4. ^ Die Verfolgung der sozio-linguistischen Gruppe, der Jenischen (auch als die deutschen Landfahrer bekannt) im NS-Staat 1934–1944, Andrew Rocco Merlino D’Arcangelis, Dissertation for the degree of Doctor of Economics and Social Sciences at HWP - Hamburg University of Economics and Politics, NS persecution in Part II from p. 229.
  5. ^ Heineman, Elizabeth D. (2002). "Sexuality and Nazism: The Doubly Unspeakable?". Journal of the History of Sexuality. 11 (1/2): 22–66. doi:10.1353/sex.2002.0006. ISSN 1043-4070. JSTOR 3704551. S2CID 142085835.
  6. ^ Ayaß, Wolfgang (2012). Ungleichheiten im "Dritten Reich": Semantiken, Praktiken, Erfahrungen (in German) (28 ed.). Göttingen: Wallstein Verlag. pp. 69–89. ISBN 978-3835323001.
  7. ^ Arendt, Hannah (1986). Elemente und Ursprünge totaler Herrschaft: Antisemitismus, Imperialismus, totale Herrschaft (in German) (24. Auflage ed.). München: Piper. p. 853. ISBN 3-492-21032-5.
  8. ^ Peukert, Detlev (1981). Reulecke, Jürgen; Castell-Rüdenhausen, Adelheid (eds.). Die Reihen fast geschlossen: Beiträge zur Geschichte des Alltags unterm Nationalsozialismus. Wuppertal: Hammer. pp. 415–422. ISBN 978-3872941763.
  9. ^ Eugen Kogon: The Theory and Practice of Hell – The German Concentration Camps. Verlag Karl Alber, Munich 1946, p. 15.
  10. ^ "Niemand war zurecht im KZ - Ein Vortrag mit Prof. Frank Nonnenmacher und Siegfried Imholz". Youtube.com. Elyel Productions. Retrieved 17 March 2026.
  11. ^ "The unsettled, "asocials"". Holocaust and Genocide Studies. University of Minnesota. 2007. Archived from the original on 4 June 2008. Retrieved 14 September 2012.
  12. ^ "Asocials". Holocaust Memorial Day Trust. Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government. Retrieved 23 June 2020.
  13. ^ "Glossary". jewishvirtuallibrary.org. Retrieved 27 March 2018.
  14. ^ "E Kali Pečàta, Black Patch | Bullock Texas State History Museum". www.thestoryoftexas.com.
  15. ^ "Glossary". jewishvirtuallibrary.org. Retrieved 27 March 2018.
  16. ^ "About Black Triangle". Black Triangle Campaign. March 2012.
  17. ^ "About". Disabled People Against Cuts. 2010.
  18. ^ Sue Marsh (20 December 2011). "No disability living allowance for me. Nowhere to turn for many more". Black Triangle Campaign.
  19. ^ George Monbiot (12 December 2011). "Britain's press are fighting a class war, defending the elite they belong to". Black Triangle Campaign.
  20. ^ Laws, Vince (30 April 2015). "UK Welfare-Related Deaths: The Black Triangle List". Disability Arts Online. Retrieved 30 July 2018.
  21. ^ Lieske, Dagmar (2016). Unbequeme Opfer? "Berufsverbrecher" als Häftlinge im KZ Sachsenhausen. Berlin: Metropol. ISBN 978-3-86331-297-8.
  22. ^ Lieske (2016, p. 317)
  23. ^ Lieske (2016, p. 319)
  24. ^ Dreesen, Philipp (2015). Diskursgrenzen: Typen und Funktionen sprachlichen Widerstands auf den Strassen der DDR. Berlin ; Boston: Walter de Gruyter GmbH. p. 149. ISBN 978-3-11-036557-3.
  25. ^ Falck, Uta (March 1998). VEB Bordell. Geschichte der Prostitution in der DDR. Berlin: Christoph Links Verlag. p. 81 f. ISBN 978-3-86284-021-2.
  26. ^ Gebauer, Ronald. "Politische Verfolgte – verdrängte DDR-Vergangenheit?". bpb.de (in German). Archived from the original on 28 November 2021. Retrieved 26 March 2026.
  27. ^ Ursula Storost (2 July 2015). "Stigmatisierung - „Asozial" - zur Genese eines Nazi-Begriffs (Archive)". deutschlandfunk.de. Retrieved 15 September 2016.
  28. ^ Wolfgang Ayaß: Den im Nationalsozialismus verfolgten Wohnungslosen wurde bislang jede Entschädigung verweigert. Sachverständigengutachten zur Anhörung des Innenausschusses des Bundestags am 24. Juni 1987 zur Entschädigung aller Opfer des Nationalsozialismus. In: German Bundestag. 11th electoral period, Interior Committee, Stenographic protocol of the 7th session of the Interior Committee. Annex 6, pp. 283–291, published in: Contributions to National Socialist Health and Social Policy. Volume 5, Berlin 1987, pp. 159–163 (urn:nbn:de:hebis:34-2007020917102).
  29. ^ Entwurf eines Dritten Gesetzes zur Änderung des Bundesergänzungsgesetzes zur Entschädigung für Opfer der nationalsozialistischen Verfolgung. BT-Drs. December 9 1949, 1955, pp. 85 f. The regulation initially planned under the name Kriegsfolgenschlußgesetz was passed in 1957 as Allgemeines Kriegsfolgengesetz (AKG).
  30. ^ "Neufassung der Richtlinien der Bundesregierung über Härteleistungen an Opfer von nationalsozialistischen Unrechtsmaßnahmen im Rahmen des Allgemeinen Kriegsfolgengesetzes (AKG-Härterichtlinien)". www.verwaltungsvorschriften-im-internet.de. Retrieved 26 March 2026.
  31. ^ Wissenschaftliche Dienste des Deutschen Bundestages (2016). "„Asoziale" im Nationalsozialismus" (PDF) (June 27 ed.). p. 20. Retrieved 26 March 2026.
  32. ^ Federal Ministry of Finance. "Wiedergutmachung Regelungen zur Entschädigung von NS-Unrecht" (PDF). Bundesministerium der Finanzen. Retrieved 27 March 2026.
  33. ^ Jutta Herms (13 February 2020). "Bundestag for recognition of further NS victim groups". tagesspiegel.de. Retrieved 13 March 2021.
  34. ^ Deutscher Bundestag. "Anerkennung der von den Nationalsozialisten als „Asoziale" und „Berufsverbrecher" Verfolgten" (PDF). Drucksache 19/14342 (in German). Retrieved 27 March 2026.
  35. ^ Foundation Memorial to the Murdered Jews of Europe (2022). "»Die Verleugneten. Opfer des Nationalsozialismus 1933 – 1945 – heute«". Retrieved 27 March 2026.
  36. ^ Mitteldeutscher Rundfunk (6 April 2023). "Is the recognition of the forgotten Nazi victims being forgotten?". mdr.de. Retrieved 27 March 2026.
  37. ^ Peter Bratenstein (2 January 2023). ""Asocials" and "professional criminals" – The denied Nazi victims". SWR2. Retrieved 27 March 2026.
  38. ^ Leomie Feuerbach (5 October 2023). "The denied NS victims". faz.net. Retrieved 27 March 2026.
  39. ^ Brandenburg Memorials Foundation (18 June 2023). "Ein wichtiger Meilenstein für die deutsche Erinnerungskultur". Retrieved 27 March 2026.
  40. ^ Charlotte Sauerland, Nikolaus Lelle (10 July 2023). "Die überfällige Erinnerung an die als „asozial" Verfolgten". Amadeu Antonio Foundation. Retrieved 27 March 2026.
  41. ^ "… dass das heute noch immer so ist – Kontinuitäten der Ausgrenzung" (in German). Retrieved 27 March 2026.
  42. ^ "Monolog mit meinem »asozialen« Großvater" (in German). Retrieved 27 March 2026.

Further reading

National Socialist source texts
  • Irmgard Andrees: Untersuchungen über eine asoziale Sippe in Münster (Westf.). In: Public Health Service. Journal of the Reich Committee for Public Health Service, the State Academy of Public Health Service Berlin and the Scientific Society of German Physicians of Public Health Service. Issue A, 5, No. 3, 1939, ZDB-ID 216948-4, pp. 81–101.
  • Fred Dubitscher: Asoziale Sippen. Erb- und Soziobiologie Untersuchungen. Georg Thieme, Leipzig 1942. Fred Dubitscher: Der Schwachsinn. Collective work: Handbook of Hereditary Diseases, Vol. 1. Ed. of the entire work Arthur Gütt. Thieme, Leipzig 1937 (passim).
  • Eine „Familie Kallikak“ in Deutschland. In: Völkischer Wille. Kampfblatt für Bevölkerungspolitik und Familie. No. 46, 1935, ZDB-ID 717052-x.
  • Albert Friehe: Was muß der Nationalsozialist von der Vererbung wissen? Die Grundlagen der Vererbung und ihre Bedeutung für Mensch, Volk und Staat. Diesterweg, Frankfurt 1934.
  • Heinrich Wilhelm Kranz, Siegfried Koller: Die Gemeinschaftsunfähigen. Ein Beitrag zur wissenschaftlichen und praktischen Lösung des sogenannten „Asozialenproblems“. 2 parts. Verlag K. Christ, Gießen 1939–1941.
  • Wilhelm Langenbach: Die Gefahr der Asozialen. With a pedigree. In: Volk und Rasse. Illustrierte Monatsschrift für deutsches Volkstum, Rassenkunde, Rassenpflege. Journal of the Reich Committee for Public Health Service and the German Society for Racial Hygiene. No. 1, 1939, ZDB-ID 201180-3, pp. 15–19.
  • Robert Ritter: Die Aufgaben der Kriminalbiologie und kriminalbiologischen Bevölkerungsforschung in Deutschland. In: Kriminalistik. 15, 1941, ZDB-ID 206468-6, pp. 38–41.
Research literature
  • Allex, Anne (2009). Kalkan, Dietrich (ed.). Ausgesteuert - ausgegrenzt ... angeblich asozial (in German) (1. Auflage ed.). Neu-Ulm: AG-SPAK-Bücher. ISBN 978-3-930830-56-5.
  • Allex, Anne (2017). Sozialrassistische Verfolgung im deutschen Faschismus: Kinder, Jugendliche, Frauen als sogenannte "Asoziale": Schwierigkeiten beim Gedenken (1. Auflage ed.). Neu-Ulm: AG SPAK Bücher. ISBN 978-3-945959-21-3.
  • Amesberger, Helga; Halbmayr, Brigitte; Rajal, Elke (2019). "Arbeitsscheu und moralisch verkommen": Verfolgung von Frauen als "Asoziale" im Nationalsozialismus. Wien: Mandelbaum Verlag. ISBN 978-3-85476-596-7.
  • Ayass, Wolfgang (1995). "Asoziale" im Nationalsozialismus. Stuttgart: Klett-Cotta. ISBN 3-608-91704-7.
  • Ayass, Wolfgang (2023). "Asozial": Aufstieg und Niedergang eines Kernbegriffs sozialer Ausgrenzung. Berlin: Verlag des Deutschen Vereins für öffentliche und private Fürsorge e.V. ISBN 978-3-7841-3682-0.
  • Benz, Wolfgang (1996). Legenden, Lügen, Vorurteile: ein Wörterbuch zur Zeitgeschichte (in German) (8. Auflage, Sonderauflage, 57. - 61. Tausend ed.). München: Deutscher Taschenbuch-Verlag. ISBN 3-423-04666-X.
  • Hörath, Julia (2017). "Asoziale" und "Berufsverbrecher" in den Konzentrationslagern 1933 bis 1938. Göttingen: Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht. ISBN 978-3-525-37042-1.
  • Thomas Irmer, Barbara Reischel, Kaspar Nürnberg: Das Städtische Arbeits- und Bewahrungshaus Rummelsburg. Zur Geschichte eines vergessenen Ortes der Verfolgung von „Asozialen in der NS-Zeit“. In: Gedenkstättenrundbrief. No. 144, 8, 2008, ZDB-ID 1195828-5, pp. 22–31.
  • Kolata, James (2013). "Zwischen Sozialdisziplinierung und „Rassenhygiene". Die Verfolgung von „Asozialen", „Arbeitsscheuen", „Swingjugend" und Sinti.". In Bauz, Ingrid; Brüggermann, Sigrid; Maier, Roland (eds.). Die Geheime Staatspolizei in Württemberg und Hohenzollern (1. Auflage ed.). Stuttgart: Schmetterling Verlag. pp. 321–337. ISBN 3-89657-138-9.
  • KZ-Gedenkstätte Neuengamme (2009). Ausgegrenzt: "Asoziale" und Kriminelle" im nationalsozialistischen Lagersystem (1. Aufl ed.). Bremen: Edition Temmen. ISBN 978-3-8378-4005-6.
  • Peukert, Detlev (1982). Volksgenossen und Gemeinschaftsfremde: Anpassung, Ausmerze und Aufbegehren unter dem Nationalsozialismus. Köln: Bund-Verlag. ISBN 3-7663-0545-X.
  • Roth, Thomas (2005). "Von den „Antisozialen" zu den „Asozialen". Ideologie und Struktur kriminalpolizeilicher „Verbrechensbekämpfung" im Nationalsozialismus.". In Sedlaczek, Dietmar (ed.). "Minderwertig" und "asozial": Stationen der Verfolgung gesellschaftlicher Aussenseiter. Zürich: Chronos. pp. 65–88. ISBN 3-0340-0716-7.
  • Scherer, Klaus (1990). "Asozial" im Dritten Reich: die vergessenen Verfolgten. Münster: VOTUM Verlag. ISBN 3-926549-25-4.
  • Schikorra, Christa (2001). Kontinuitäten der Ausgrenzung: "asoziale" Häftlinge im Frauen-Konzentrationslager Ravensbrück. Berlin: Metropol. ISBN 3-932482-60-3.
Other source texts
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