Crematorium tag from Dachau concentration camp
Extent and Medium
overall: Height: 1.500 inches (3.81 cm) | Width: 0.500 inches (1.27 cm)
Archival History
The crematorium tag was donated to the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum in 2001 by John Weeks.
Acquisition
United States Holocaust Memorial Museum Collection, Gift of John D. Weeks
Scope and Content
Crematorium tag from Dachau concentration camp in Germany. The tag was picked up by an American soldier on a tour of the camp in the spring of 1945, after the camp’s liberation. A numbered tag was placed with each corpse to be able to identify the ashes after cremation. The numbers on the tags did not correspond to prisoner numbers. Produced in large quantities, not all the tags were used. Dachau was the first concentration camp established by the Nazi government in 1933, originally for political prisoners. Over time, other groups were interned at Dachau, such as Jehovah's Witnesses, Roma, homosexuals, repeat criminal offenders, and Jews. It was divided into two parts - the concentration camp and the crematorium for the disposal of the bodies of inmates who died at the camp. The camp was liberated by United States forces on April 29, 1945.
Conditions Governing Access
No restrictions on access
Physical Characteristics and Technical Requirements
Circular, gray-white, clay tag with a coarse surface. It has an oblong recess in the center with an imprinted number, and a hole near the top. Back has a blank, oblong recess.
Paper tag attached by wire through hole that reads: "This is a clay number marker/which went through/the crematorium at Dachau/on the leg of the 6682 person/to be cremated there by the/Nazis. Got this 14 Sept./45""
Subjects
- Crematoriums--Germany--Dachau.
- World War, 1939-1945--Concentration camps--Liberation--Germany--Dachau.
- Concentration camps--Germany--History--20th century.
Genre
- Identifying Artifacts
- Object