Unused forced labor badge, blue field with OST in white letters, to identify a forced laborer from the Soviet Union

Identifier
irn523544
Language of Description
English
Alt. Identifiers
  • 2005.506.7
Dates
1 Jan 1942 - 31 Dec 1945
Level of Description
Item
Languages
  • German
Source
EHRI Partner

Extent and Medium

overall: Height: 3.125 inches (7.938 cm) | Width: 3.125 inches (7.938 cm)

Archival History

The OST badge was acquired by the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum in 2005.

Acquisition

Forms part of the Claims Conference International Holocaust Documentation Archive at the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum. This archive consists of documentation whose reproduction and/or acquisition was made possible with funding from the Conference on Jewish Material Claims Against Germany.

Scope and Content

Unused OST forced labor badge that would have been worn by a forced laborer to identify them as an Ostarbeiter [Worker from the East], usually Russian or Ukrainian, deported to work in Nazi Germany. The patch would have been sewn to the chest with the outer white border visible. After Germany attacked the Soviet Union in the spring of 1941, the need for forced labor to support the war effort became an urgent necessity. Beginning in 1942, millions of forced laborers were deported from the Soviet Union to work in factories and other civilian labor details. They were housed in so-called residence camps that often had barbed wire and SS guards. They were treated as second class citizens and kept separate from the general population. After the war ended in 1945, nearly 6 million eastern workers were repatriated to the Soviet Union where they often were discriminated against and accused of being traitors to their country.

Conditions Governing Access

No restrictions on access

Conditions Governing Reproduction

No restrictions on use

Physical Characteristics and Technical Requirements

Square white cloth with a badge design screen printed on one side with dark blue dye. In the center is a white 3 letter acronym, OST, upon a dark blue square field. That square is bordered by an outline of undyed white cloth which is then bordered by a dyed dark blue outline. The badge appears unused and the edges are frayed.

Subjects

Genre

This description is derived directly from structured data provided to EHRI by a partner institution. This collection holding institution considers this description as an accurate reflection of the archival holdings to which it refers at the moment of data transfer.