![Tattooed former Soviet prisoner](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/6/6a/Tattooed_former_Soviet_prisoner.jpg)
During the 20th century in the
Soviet Union
The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, ...
, Russian criminal and prison communities maintained a culture of using
tattoos
A tattoo is a form of body modification made by inserting tattoo ink, dyes, and/or pigments, either indelible or temporary, into the dermis layer of the skin to form a design. Tattoo artists create these designs using several tattooing pr ...
to indicate members' criminal career and ranking. Specifically among those imprisoned under the
Gulag
The Gulag, an acronym for , , "chief administration of the camps". The original name given to the system of camps controlled by the GPU was the Main Administration of Corrective Labor Camps (, )., name=, group= was the government agency in ...
system of the Soviet era, the tattoos served to differentiate a criminal leader or
thief in law
A “thief in law” (Russian: вор в зако́не, Georgian: კანონიერი ქურდი), in the Soviet Union, the post-Soviet states, and respective diasporas abroad is a specifically granted formal and special status of ...
from a political prisoner.
The practice grew in the 1930s, peaking in the 1950s and declining in popularity in the 1970s and 1980s.
Origins
The
branding of criminals was practised in Russia long before tattooing was customary, and was banned in 1863. In the 19th century, a "pricked" cross on the left hand was often used to identify deserters from the army, and up until 1846, criminals sentenced to hard labour were branded "BOP" (''thief''), the letters on the forehead and cheeks. Brands were also applied to the shoulder blade and the right forearm, in three categories; "CK" for ''Ssylno-Katorzhny'' (
hard labour convict), "SP" for ''Ssylno-Poselenets'' (hard labour deportee) and "Б" for ''Begly'' (escapee). In 1846, VOR was replaced by "KAT"; the first three letters of the word for "hard labour convict" or ''katorzhnik''.
In the 1930s, Russian criminal castes began to emerge, such as the ''Masti'' (suits) and the ''Vor v Zakone'' (rus. Вор в Законе) or ''Blatnye'' (authoritative thieves), and with that a tattoo culture to define rank and reputation. Up until World War II, any tattoo could denote a professional criminal, the only exception being tattoos on sailors.
Under the Gulag system of the Soviet era, laws that were implemented in mid-1940 allowed short prison sentences to be given to those convicted of petty theft, hooliganism, or labor discipline infractions. This led to an increase in the prison population during and after
World War II
World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...
. By January 1941, the Gulag workforce had increased by approximately 300,000 prisoners.
Tattoos served to differentiate between an authority or "thief in law", and the many hundreds of thousands of
political prisoner
A political prisoner is someone imprisoned for their political activity. The political offense is not always the official reason for the prisoner's detention.
There is no internationally recognized legal definition of the concept, although n ...
s who were imprisoned during and shortly after World War Two for crimes not considered those of a "Vor" (thief).
Some of the motifs came from English
sailor tattoos
Sailor tattoos are traditions of tattooing among sailors, including images with symbolic meanings. These practices date back to at least the 16th century among European sailors, and since colonial times among American sailors. People participat ...
, such as the flying tall ships, a heart pierced by a dagger, anchors, a serpent-entwined heart or a tiger baring its teeth.
A thief's collection of tattoos represents his "suit" (''mast''), which indicates his status within the community of thieves and his control over other thieves within the thieves' law. In
Russian criminal jargon or ''Fenya'' (феня), a full set of tattoos is known as ''frak s ordenami'' (a tailcoat with decorations). The tattoos show a "service record" of achievements and failures, prison sentences and the type of work a criminal does. They might also represent his "thief's family", naming others within hearts or with the traditional tomcat image.
Misappropriation of the tattoos of a "legitimate thief" could be punished by death, or the prisoner would be forced to remove them themselves "with a knife, sandpaper, a shard of glass or a lump of brick".
Bitch war
After World War II a schism occurred in the criminal world. Many convicts had
fought in penal units, in contravention of the thieves' code that no thief should serve in the military or cooperate with authorities in any way. Many legitimate thieves found themselves demoted to ''frayer'' (outsider), ''muzhik'' (мужик, peasant), or ''suka'' (сука, traitor, bitch). This was part of a power struggle; with limited resources in prison, outlawing the "bitches" (''suki'') allowed the legitimate thieves to take more for themselves.
Tattoos were modified and new designs appeared to distinguish between the two groups. The dagger piercing a heart was modified, adding an arrow: this tattoo indicated a legitimate thief and his desire to seek vengeance against those who had violated the thieves' code. The compass rose became an indicator of aggression to prison officials and the "bitches", indicating the vow that "I will never wear
epaulette
Epaulette (; also spelled epaulet) is a type of ornamental shoulder piece or decoration used as insignia of rank by armed forces and other organizations. Flexible metal epaulettes (usually made from brass) are referred to as ''shoulder scales' ...
s" and hatred towards those who had served in the Soviet Army. Secret acronyms were created by legitimate thieves that the "bitches" wouldn't recognise, such as СЛОН (''SLON'', "elephant"), meaning Суки Любят Острый Нож (''Suki Lyubyat Ostry Nozh'', "Bitches love a sharp knife").
Khrushchev's reforms and decline of tattooing
In the 1950s
Nikita Khrushchev
Nikita Sergeyevich Khrushchev (– 11 September 1971) was the First Secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union from 1953 to 1964 and chairman of the country's Council of Ministers from 1958 to 1964. During his rule, Khrushchev s ...
declared a policy for the eradication of criminality from Soviet society. Along with propaganda denouncing the "traditional thief" that had grown in popularity in Russian culture, punishments in the prisons intensified for anyone that identified as a legitimate thief, including beatings and torture. As a response to this persecution, the thieves' laws were intensified and the punishment for prisoners wearing unearned tattoos increased from removal to rape and murder.
By the 1970s, the intensification of the thieves' laws had resulted in reprisals against the legitimate thieves, orchestrated by prison authorities who would often throw a legitimate thief into cells with prisoners they had punished or raped.
To reduce tensions, criminal leaders outlawed rites of passage and outlawed rape as a punishment. Fights between inmates were outlawed and conflicts were to be resolved through mediation by senior thieves. Additionally, a fashion for tattooing had spread through juvenile prisons, increasing the number of inmates with "illegitimate" tattoos. This ubiquity along with the reduction in violence meant that the "criminal authorities" stopped punishing "unearned" tattoos.
In 1985,
perestroika and the new increase in tattoo parlours made tattooing fashionable, and further diluted the status of tattoos as a solely criminal attribute.
Application
The tattooists, or (prickers), were held in high regard. Tattoo needles can be referred to as (ice pick), (bee), (spur), or (sting), while the tattoo machine can be referred to as (little machine) or (dentist's drill), and the ink is referred to as either (fuel oil) or (dirt). The tattoos themselves were referred to as a (advertising), (regalia), (brand), or (painting).
Designs
Common designs and themes grew over the years, often having different meanings depending on the location of the tattoo. The imagery often does not literally mean what it is depicting—for example, tattoos displaying
Nazi
Nazism ( ; german: Nazismus), the common name in English for National Socialism (german: Nationalsozialismus, ), is the far-right totalitarian political ideology and practices associated with Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party (NSDAP) in ...
imagery represent a rejection of authority rather than an adherence to Nazism. Combinations of imagery, such as a rose, barbed wire and a dagger, form combined meanings. According to lexicographer Alexei Plutser-Sarno, the tattoos become the only "real aspects of his life".
They are a symbol of the owner's commitment to war against the non-thief, the police (), and the "bitch" (). The environment in the Soviet era was one of heavy visual propaganda, and the tattoos are a reaction to that, and a "grin at authority" (), often directly parodying official Soviet slogans with Communist Party leaders often depicted as devils, donkeys, or pigs.
A thief's collection of tattoos represent his "suit" (''mast''), which indicates his status within the community of thieves and his control over other thieves within the thieves' law. They might also represent his "thief's family", naming others within hearts or with the traditional tom cat image.
* Stars – Indicate authority. On the shoulders or the knees ("I kneel to no-one"). The eight-pointed star denotes rank as thief in law depending on where it is placed.
* Cat – Traditional sign of a thief, often with a hat (from "
Puss in Boots
"Puss in Boots" ( it, Il gatto con gli stivali) is an Italian fairy tale, later spread throughout the rest of Europe, about an anthropomorphic cat who uses trickery and deceit to gain power, wealth, and the hand of a princess in marriage for ...
"). The abbreviation "KOT" (kot; ''cat'') stands for "a native prison inhabitant" (коренной обитатель тюрьмы, )
*Portrait of
Lenin
Vladimir Ilyich Ulyanov. ( 1870 – 21 January 1924), better known as Vladimir Lenin,. was a Russian revolutionary, politician, and political theorist. He served as the first and founding head of government of Soviet Russia from 1917 to 1 ...
and/or
Stalin
Joseph Vissarionovich Stalin (born Ioseb Besarionis dze Jughashvili; – 5 March 1953) was a Georgian revolutionary and Soviet political leader who led the Soviet Union from 1924 until his death in 1953. He held power as General Secretar ...
– Often tattooed on the chest, partly from a belief that a firing squad would never follow orders to shoot such an image.
May have originated as a sign of pride among prisoners after the
Bolshevik Revolution
The October Revolution,. officially known as the Great October Socialist Revolution. in the Soviet Union, also known as the Bolshevik Revolution, was a revolution in Russia led by the Bolshevik Party of Vladimir Lenin that was a key moment ...
, as former prisoners were now in control of the country.
*
Orthodox church
Orthodox Church may refer to:
* Eastern Orthodox Church
* Oriental Orthodox Churches
* Orthodox Presbyterian Church
* Orthodox Presbyterian Church of New Zealand
* State church of the Roman Empire
* True Orthodox church
See also
* Orthodox (di ...
– Indicates a thief, usually a chest tattoo, with the number of cupolas indicating the number of convictions.
* Suns – Rays can be used to indicate number and length of sentences served.
* Skull – Indicates a murderer. Following the abolition of the death sentence for murder in 1947, the number of murders rose significantly, with an extra 10-year sentence being no deterrent to prisoners already sentenced to life.
* Cross – The traditional "thieves' cross" is usually tattooed on the chest. This was very common.
* Ships – With full sails it can indicate someone that has fled from custody, a or , or that a wearer is a nomadic thief who travels to steal.
* Dragons – Indicate a "shark" or someone who has stolen state or collectively owned property.
* Spider, when facing up, denotes an active criminal; facing down, it denotes one who has left the lifestyle.
* Medals – Can indicate rank or, if done in pre-Soviet style, indicates contempt for authority.
* Eagle – Traditionally indicated a senior-authority figure; if the eagle is carrying someone it can indicate a rapist.
* Hooded Executioner – A prisoner who has murdered a relative.
* Bells – These can indicate a long sentence with no chance of early release, a long sentence served without parole for being uncooperative to the authorities, or, if on the right shoulder, it can indicate a thief who stole from church.
* Images of the Madonna with Child (
St Mary and the infant
Jesus Christ
Jesus, likely from he, יֵשׁוּעַ, translit=Yēšūaʿ, label=Hebrew/Aramaic ( AD 30 or 33), also referred to as Jesus Christ or Jesus of Nazareth (among other names and titles), was a first-century Jewish preacher and religious ...
) mean "Prison is my home" and act as a talisman or signify a criminal lifestyle from a young age.
* Eyes – When on the stomach indicate the owner is gay, or on the chest can indicate they are "watching over you". On the buttocks can indicate a passive homosexual.
* A circled "A" (done in the style of a finger ring) indicates an anarchist (анархист, )
* Circle with a dot inside (as finger ring) known as "The Roundstone" - Indicates an orphan (круглый сирота, ), or the saying "Trust only yourself" (надейся только на себя, )
* Skull inside a square (as finger ring) - Indicates a conviction for robbery (судим за разбой, )
*
Quincunx
A quincunx () is a geometric pattern consisting of five points arranged in a cross, with four of them forming a square or rectangle and a fifth at its center. The same pattern has other names, including "in saltire" or "in cross" in heraldry (d ...
- Indicates one who has done extensive time, from the saying "the four walls and I" or "four guard towers and me" (четыре вышки и я, chetyre vyshki i ya)
* Snake entwined with a woman - Indicates a passive homosexual, especially if tattooed on the back.
Often a forced tattoo.
* "Informer" ("Стукач") A forced tattoo.
* "Enemy of The People" ("BPAГ HAPOДA") A forced tattoo.
* "
Kulak
Kulak (; russian: кула́к, r=kulák, p=kʊˈlak, a=Ru-кулак.ogg; plural: кулаки́, ''kulakí'', 'fist' or 'tight-fisted'), also kurkul () or golchomag (, plural: ), was the term which was used to describe peasants who owned ove ...
" ("Кулак") A forced tattoo.
* "I am a Bitch" (''cyкa'') A forced tattoo.
* "Beauty marks" or dots on the forehead indicate a "bitch" who has sided with the prison authorities. Beneath the eyes indicates a passive homosexual and by the mouth indicates a passive partaker in oral sex. On the chin indicates a rat (''krysa'') who steals from other prisoners. A forced tattoo.
* "Red" card suits, diamonds and hearts, on the back indicate a passive homosexual. Often a forced tattoo.
Hand and ring tattoos
Tattoos on the hands and fingers were common, and for women, palm tattoos showing insults were popular in the 1940s and 50s.
* A church with three cupolas – "eternal prisoner" applied to someone with at least three convictions.
* An eagle – denotes an authoritative thief, or an escapee from a camp.
* The letters "ОМУТ" (omut; ''water hole'') on the back of the hand indicate one from whom it is difficult to get away (от меня уйти трудно, , it's hard to get away from me)
* The letters "МИР" (mir; ''world'' or ''peace'') on the back of the hand denote one who will never be rehabilitated or re-educated (меня исправит расстрел, , only execution will correct me)
* A heart indicates a despised thief with no status, convicted for rape.
* A winged arrow means a traveling thief.
* A crown indicates a criminal boss or authority
* White cross on a black background; "I've been through the crosses" indicating that they have served solitary confinement.
* Silhouettes of birds; "Love and cherish freedom".
* Crosses on knuckles can indicate number of times in prison.
Forced tattoos
There are tattoos that are forcibly applied to signify "demotion" (). These may depict sexual acts, and are designed to lower the owner in the eyes of other prisoners and draw harsh treatment from them. These can be applied to those convicted of sexual crimes, those who have not paid a debt, stool pigeons (), stooges (), and signify that the owner is expelled from the privileged section of a thieves society and are "untouchables" (). Other thieves must not accept anything from them or be considered "infected" (). As a thief is "born" with his tattoos, they can also be used to signify his "death" and new status as an "untouchable". Even established thieves could be demoted, if, for example, they lost a card game and failed to honor their bets.
See also
*
Criminal tattoos
Criminal tattoos are a type of tattoos associated with criminals to show gang membership and record the wearer's personal history—such as their skills, specialties, accomplishments, incarceration, world view and/or means of personal expression ...
*
Prison gang
A prison gang is an inmate organization that operates within a prison system. It has a corporate entity and exists into perpetuity. Its membership is restrictive, mutually exclusive, and often requires a lifetime commitment. Prison officials and ot ...
*
Russian Mafia
*
Thief in law
A “thief in law” (Russian: вор в зако́не, Georgian: კანონიერი ქურდი), in the Soviet Union, the post-Soviet states, and respective diasporas abroad is a specifically granted formal and special status of ...
References
{{Reflist, 30em
Tattooing
Russian culture
*
Secret societies related to organized crime