Trisha Shetty (Editor)

Purple triangle

Updated on
Edit
Like
Comment
Share on FacebookTweet on TwitterShare on LinkedInShare on Reddit
Purple triangle

The purple triangle was a concentration camp badge used by the Nazis to identify Bibelforscher (or "Bible Student") in Nazi Germany. Over 99% of these were Jehovah's Witnesses, but a small number of Adventists, Baptists, Bible Student splinter groups, and pacifists were also included. Nazism opposed unorthodox-Christian religious minorities (along with Jews), but made the Bible Students the object of particularly intense persecution, including such extensive incarceration that a distinct badge was assigned to them.

Background

Jehovah's Witnesses came into conflict with the Nazi regime because they refused to salute Adolf Hitler with the traditional "Heil Hitler" salute, believing that it conflicted with their worship of God. Because refusing to salute Hitler was considered a crime, they were arrested, and their children attending school were expelled, detained and separated from their families. When Germany made military enlistment mandatory, they were persecuted because they refused to bear arms. Being politically neutral, they also refused to vote in the 1936 elections.

Based on Nuremberg Laws, those who were also classified as ethnic Jews wore a badge comprising a purple triangle superimposed on a yellow triangle.

References

Purple triangle Wikipedia