We define commemorative Holocaust tattoos as tattoos that copy their ancestors’ concentration camp tattoos, and/or other Nazi-imposed symbols, such as the Star of David, as new sites of public Holocaust memory. This project was to investigate this emerging phenomenon and the personal and cultural meaning of these tattoos in a contemporary context. This was explored through questions like:
- What meaning do Holocaust commemorative tattoos have for those with commemorative tattoos and members of Jewish communities?
- What is the role of Holocaust commemorative tattoos in Holocaust collective memory?
(Re)Marked Defined
(Re)Marked refers to the embodied memorialization by 2nd, 3rd, and 4th generation Holocaust survivors of the markings that the Nazis imposed on Jews during the Holocaust, such as the yellow Star of David or number tattoos in the Auschwitz concentration camp. The (Re) connotes a re-membering, re-claiming and re-appropriating of these imposed markings by choosing to have these symbols tattooed on bodies as new forms of public Holocaust memory. The (Re)Marked project refers to (re)telling the stories of Holocaust victims and survivors while also providing commentary on Jewish identity in contemporary culture, particularly within a context of rising antisemitism.
We interviewed people who have a commemorative Holocaust tattoo.
We studied the emerging phenomenon of commemorative Holocaust tattoos by 2nd, 3rd, and 4th generation Holocaust survivors as new forms of public Holocaust memory.
What we learned: Holocaust Tattoos: An Embodied Representation of Intergenerational Trauma and Grief
Authors: Susan Cadell, Reisa Klein, Melissa Reid Lambert, & Mary Ellen Macdonald
Background
Many of those interned in Auschwitz during the Holocaust had a number tattooed on their arm (Apel, 2002; Schult, 2017). These tattoos can now be seen as an embodied public record of the attempted extermination of Eastern European Jews during the Second World War.
Rationale
As Holocaust survivors are aging and dying, these bodily archives are disappearing, leading to a period described as the “fourth wave” of public Holocaust memory during which no living eyewitnesses remain. In the face of this loss, some descendants are choosing to tattoo copies of these numbers on their bodies as well as other commemorative Holocaust symbols. These practices are particularly significant in light of the Jewish scriptural proscription against tattoos.
Design
This project used interviews to explore the meaning of these tattoos within a context of rising antisemitism and the social significance of making Jewish identities more visible.
Results
Eight interviews were completed with people with tattoos as well as tattoo artists. Analysis focused on meaning-making, grounded in a symbolic interactionist approach.
Read some of their stories here:
Conclusion
Tattoos have long carried cultural meanings (Cadell et al., 2022); these numeric tattoos are very culturally specific, resisting historical Jewish practices aimed at “passing” in North American and European society. Thus, they afford a unique opportunity to explore both issues of identity and of marginalized, obscured, or silenced family trauma, the hallmarks of intergenerational trauma and grief. This project has shed light on how this practice participates in (re)negotiating Jewish identity in a contemporary context, as well as how it both shapes and communicates grief.
References
Apel, D. (2002). Memory effects: The holocaust and the art of secondary witnessing. (Original work published Rutgers University Press)
Cadell, S., Reid Lambert, M., Davidson, D., Greco, C., & Macdonald, M. E. (2022). Memorial tattoos: Advancing continuing bonds theory. Death Studies, 46(1), 132–139. https://doi.org/10.1080/07481187.2020.1716888
Schult, T. (2017). From Stigma to Medal of Honor and Agent of Remembrance: Auschwitz Tattoos and Generational Change (pp. 257–291). Universitätsverlag Winter. https://urn.kb.se/resolve?urn=urn:nbn:se:su:diva-151344
STORIES FROM THE SKIN 