[3] Johann Voss of the 6th SS Mountain Division Nord and author of Black Edelweiss, did not have the tattoo applied because he was visiting his father on that particular day, although the rest of his training company did.
The blood group tattoo helped greatly in identifying former members, leading to their prosecution and, in some cases, their execution.
Some members of the SS who evaded capture in part because they did not have the blood group tattoo included Josef Mengele and Alois Brunner.
[4][5] Towards the end of the war and after, some (former) SS members tried to remove their blood group tattoos by various means, including surgery, self-inflicted burns and even shooting themselves there.
[6] In the post-war period, the existence of the tattoo was used by US immigration officials to identify former Nazis and deny them entry to the United States.