Identification of inmates in Nazi concentration camps

[citation needed] The common belief that all concentration camps put tattoos on inmates is not true.

The tattoo was the prisoner's camp entry number, sometimes with a special symbol added: some Jews had a triangle, and Romani had the letter "Z" (from German Zigeuner for "Gypsy").

[2] Colored inverted triangles were used in the concentration camps in the German-occupied countries to identify the reason the prisoners had been placed there.

Someone wearing an F could be called upon to help translate guards' spoken instructions to a trainload of new arrivals from France.

Detainees wearing civilian clothing (more common later in the war) instead of the striped uniforms were often marked with a prominent X on the back.

For permanence, such Xs were made with white oil paint, with sewn-on cloth strips, or were cut (with underlying jacket-liner fabric providing the contrasting color).