Red triangle (badge)
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The red triangle was a Nazi concentration camp badge worn in two instances. Worn upright, the badge was applied to prisoners of war, spies, and military deserters.[citation needed] As a red inverted triangle, the badge was worn by political prisoners.[1][2][3][4] The Nazis chose red because the first people to have to wear it were Communists. Besides Communists, liberals, anarchists, Social Democrats, Freemasons, and other opposition party members also wore a red triangle.[3]
Opponents of the Nazi Party
[edit]Many red triangle wearers were interned at Dachau concentration camp.[citation needed]
After WWII
[edit]Service medals
[edit]Service medal awarded to prisoners of war and other camp inmates after WWII feature the triangle thar was used on prisoners' uniforms.
Right: B-triangle incorporated into the Belgian Political Prisoner's Cross.
These examples also replicate the striped fabric of some uniforms.
Association of Persecutees of the Nazi Regime – Federation of Antifascists
[edit]The Association of Persecutees of the Nazi Regime – Federation of Antifascists (German: Vereinigung der Verfolgten des Naziregimes – Bund der Antifaschistinnen und Antifaschisten, VVN-BdA) is a German political confederation founded in 1947 and based in Berlin. The VVN-BdA, formerly the VVN, emerged from victims' associations in Germany founded by political opponents to Nazism after the Second World War and the end of the Nazi rule in Germany.[verification needed] With the end of World War II, self-help groups of former resistance fighters were founded in "anti-fascist committees", known as "Antifas", involving working class militants, in particular but not only Communists[5][6][7][8] which were banned immediately by the military administrations of each of the British and American occupation zones for being far politically left.[9][10] By June 26, 1945, an "association of political prisoners and persecutees of the Nazi system" had been founded in Stuttgart, and in the following weeks and months, there were regional groups of ex-political prisoners and other persecuted individuals formed with the permission of the allied forces, in each of the four occupation zones.[11]
War memorials
[edit]-
This VVN memorial in Teltow incorporates a red triangle to symbolize political prisoners -
-
A Dora Todesmarsch (death march) roadside tablet marked only with the date and a red triangle -
On a Buchenwald Todesmarsch (death march) route historical marker -
On a Sachsenhausen death march route historical marker -
Monument (in the village of Grabow-Below) for Ravensbrück death march victims -
On a Wöbbelin memorial stone -
Boulder (in Lindenring) for 2,000 women victims of Ravensbrück -
On a Cap Arcona incident memorial -
At the Neustadt-Glewe concentration camp memorial -
P-triangle at a Zgorzelec memorial
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Use in East Germany (Deutsche Demokratische Republik)
[edit]From 1975 onwards, the Deutsche Demokratische Republik (DDR, also known as East Germany) released a medal for the "Committee of Anti-Fascist Resistance Fighters" of the GDR that included a red triangle.[12]
21st Century usage
[edit]Trump campaign advertisements against antifa
[edit]In 2020, Donald Trump's election campaign included an advertisement on social media saying that he would make "Antifa" (short for anti-fascism) a "designated terrorist" group. The advertisement showed the red triangle as an antifa symbol.[13] In his second term Trump again tried to use terrorist designations very broadly, to target drug cartels in Central America.[14]
In June 2020, the re-election campaign of Donald Trump posted an advertisement on Facebook stating that "Dangerous MOBS of far-left groups are running through our streets and causing absolute mayhem" and identifying them as "ANTIFA", accompanied by a graphic of a downward-pointing red triangle. The ads appeared on the Facebook pages of Donald Trump, the Trump campaign, and Vice President Mike Pence. Many observers compared the graphic to the symbol used by the Nazis for identifying political prisoners such as communists, social democrats and socialists. Many noted the number of ads – 88 – which is associated with neo-Nazis and white supremacists.[15][16][17]
As an example of the public outcry against the use of the downward-pointing red triangle, as reported by MotherJones, the Twitter account (@jewishaction),[18] the account of Bend the Arc: Jewish Action,[19] a Progressive Jewish site stated:
"The President of the United States is campaigning for reelection using a Nazi concentration camp symbol.
Nazis used the red triangle to mark political prisoners and people who rescued Jews. Trump & the RNC are using it to smear millions of protestors.
Their masks are off. pic.twitter.com/UzmzDaRBup"[20]
Facebook removed the campaign ads with the graphic, saying that its use in this context violated their policy against "organized hate".[21][22][23][24][25][26] The Trump campaign's communications director wrote, "The red triangle is a common Antifa symbol used in an ad about Antifa." Historian Mark Bray, author of Antifa: The Anti-Fascist Handbook, disputed this, saying that the symbol is not associated with Antifa in the United States.[27]
Other uses
[edit]There have been other uses of similar symbols thar are not closely connected to World War Two:
- A red triangle symbol has been used to indicate family planning services.
- The red triangle outline used by the YMCA. It is part of the "Y" in their usual logo, but was also used by itself on a badge for "Red Triangle Day" in about 1917.[28]
- The red triangle pointing upwards was used by the Iraqi Republican Guard that existed from 1969 until 2003.
See also
[edit]
- Anti-fascism – Opposition to fascism
- Antifa (United States) – Anti-fascist political activist movement
- Association of Persecutees of the Nazi Regime – Federation of Antifascists
- Communist Party of Germany – Political party in Germany (1919–1946/1956)
- Identification in Nazi camps – Prisoners' camp identification numbers, cloth emblems, and armbands
- Nazi concentration camp badge § Single triangles
- P (Nazi symbol) – Sign for polish workers during the NS-Regime in Nazi Germany
- Pink triangle – Symbol for the LGBTQIA+ community
- Yellow badge – Badge forced to be worn by Jews at various times in history
References
[edit]- ^ "Red triangle symbol: Germany debating a ban – DW – 08/04/2024". dw.com. Deutsche Welle. 4 August 2024.
From the mid-1930s, political prisoners were forced to wear cloth badges with the triangle in Nazi concentration camps. It was part of an extensive dehumanizing classification system. 'At first, the majority of political inmates were German Social Democrats or Communists and the red of the triangle referred to their party colors,' Jens-Christian Wagner, the director of the Buchenwald and Mittelbau-Dora Memorials Foundation, told DW. Later, he explained, most were non-Germans from across the political spectrum who had opposed National Socialism or Nazi Germany's occupation of their countries.
- ^ "Classification System in Nazi Concentration Camps". Holocaust Encyclopedia. ushmm.org.
Criminals were marked with green inverted triangles, political prisoners with red, "asocials" (including Roma, nonconformists, vagrants, and other groups) with black or — in the case of Roma in some camps — brown triangles. Gay men and men accused of homosexuality were identified with pink triangles. And Jehovah's Witnesses were identified with purple ones ... The two triangles forming the Jewish star badge would both be yellow unless the Jewish prisoner was included in one of the other prisoner categories. A Jewish political prisoner, for example, would be identified with a yellow triangle beneath a red triangle.
- ^ a b "IDENTIFICATION BADGES IN THE HOLOCAUST" (PDF). hcofpgh.org. Holocaust Center of Pittsburgh.
Political prisoners: social democrats, socialists, trade unionists, communists and anarchists
- ^ "Identification Badge of a Political Prisoner". museeholocauste.ca. Montreal, Canada: Musée de l'Holocauste Montréal [Montreal Holocaust Museum].
- ^ David Kahn Betrayal: our occupation of Germany Beacon Service Co., 1950
- ^ Information Bulletin, Office of Military Government Control Office, Germany (Territory under Allied occupation, U.S. Zone). Issues 1-22, 1945, pp.13-15
- ^ Leonard Krieger "The Inter-Regnum in Germany: March-August 1945" Political Science Quarterly Volume 64 - Number 4 - December 1949, pp. 507-532
- ^ Pritchard, Gareth (2012). Niemandsland: A History of Unoccupied Germany, 1944-1945. Cambridge University Press. ISBN 978-1107013506.
- ^ Michelmann, Jeannette (2002). Aktivisten der ersten Stunde: die Antifa in der Sowjetischen Besatzungszone. Köln: Böhlau. p. 369. ISBN 9783412046026.
- ^ Woller, Hans (1986). Gesellschaft und Politik in der amerikanischen Besatzungszone : die Region Ansbach und Fürth (in German). München: Oldenbourg. p. 89. ISBN 9783486594751.
- ^ Oppenheimer, Max (1972). Vom Häftlingskomitee zum Bund der Antifaschisten : der Weg der VVN. Bibliothek des Widerstandes (in German). Frankfurt: Röderberg-Verlag. p. 9. OCLC 971411934.
- ^ https://www.ddr-museum.de/de/objects/1023642
- ^ https://www.dw.com/en/facebook-removes-trump-ads-for-use-of-nazi-symbol/a-53865468
- ^ https://www.brennancenter.org/our-work/analysis-opinion/dangerous-sweep-trumps-plan-designate-cartels-terrorist-organizations
- ^ Breland, Ali. "Nazis put this symbol on political opponents' arms. Now Trump is using it". Mother Jones. Retrieved 19 June 2020.
- ^ Morrison, Sara (18 June 2020). "Facebook takes down another Trump campaign ad, this time for Nazi imagery". Vox. Retrieved 19 June 2020.
- ^ Rodrigo, Chris Mills (18 June 2020). "Facebook takes down Trump ads featuring symbol used by Nazis to mark political prisoners". TheHill. Retrieved 19 June 2020.
- ^ "@jewishaction" on Twitter
- ^ "Home". bendthearc.us.
- ^ Breland, Ali. "Nazis put this symbol on political opponents' arms. Now Trump is using it". Mother Jones. Retrieved 22 December 2021.
- ^ Shannon, Joel. "Nazis used red triangles to mark political prisoners. That symbol is why Facebook banned a Donald Trump reelection campaign ad". USA TODAY. Retrieved 22 December 2021.
- ^ Crowley, James (18 June 2020). "The History of The Concentration Camp Badge in a Team Trump Ad For Facebook". Newsweek. Retrieved 16 December 2024.
- ^ Feldman, Ari (18 June 2020). "Facebook removes Trump ad that identifies Antifa with red triangle similar to Nazi symbol". The Forward.
- ^ Goforth, Claire (27 January 2021). "Trump campaign accused of using a Nazi symbol in Facebook ad". The Daily Dot. Retrieved 16 December 2024.
- ^ "Facebook removes Trump ads for violating 'organized hate' policy". NBC News. 18 June 2020. Retrieved 18 June 2020.
- ^ Stanley-Becker, Isaac. "Facebook removes Trump ads with symbol once used by Nazis to designate political prisoners". Washington Post. Retrieved 18 June 2020.
- ^ Karni, Annie (18 June 2020). "Facebook removes Trump ads displaying symbol used by Nazis". The New York Times.
- ^ "Badge - Red Triangle Day, ca 1917". Victorian Collections.
External links
[edit]- LangLаngС (pen name) (26 June 2020). "Have Antifa members used an inverted red triangle as a symbol?". Skeptics Stack Exchange. Archived from the original on 5 July 2025.
- "Tales of Antifascism: International Survivors' Organizations during the Cold War". Fascism. 9 (1–2): 244–271. 21 December 2020. doi:10.1163/22116257-09010009. ISSN 2211-6249.
