Yellow Star Of David Badge

   The yellow badge, and less often the blue badge, was first introduced by the Germans in Lublin in November 1939 in order to readily identify Jews and to create a gulf between them and the rest of the population. The wearing of the Jewish badge, at first, was not uniform among the Jewish population in Poland. In Lublin, Jews were required to wear the yellow Star of David on the left side of their breast with the word Jude (Jew) inscribed on the patch. In Bialystok, the Judenrat (Jewish Council) called for Jews aged 14 and over to wear an armband with a blue Star of David. Hans Frank, attempting to bring uniformity to the wearing of the Jewish badge, ordered in November 1939 that a band with a blue Star of David be worn by all Jews. Following the German invasion of the Soviet Union in June 1941, guidelines were issued that contained the provision that at all times Jews must wear an identifiable yellow six-pointed star on the left side of their breast and on the back of their clothes.

   The requirement to wear a distinctive badge also applied in the ghettos, where Jews were made responsible for fashioning the badges and circulating them throughout the ghetto. Jews who failed to wear the badges were subject to fines and prison sentences. An announcement of the Bialystok Judenrat of 26 July 1941, stated that “The authorities have warned that severe punishment up to and including death by shooting is in store for Jews who do not wear the yellow badge, on back and front.”

   The yellow badge was adopted by German satellite states such as Slovakia, Hungary, and Romania. The badge was also required by Jews in German-occupied countries where it was often resisted. In Denmark, for example, the Germans failed to force the yellow badge on Danish Jewry, although the legend continues to persist that King Christian X threatened to wear the badge should the Germans attempt to introduce it. Although the king opposed German anti-Jewish measures, he in fact never made such a declaration, nor did he appear in public wearing the yellow badge. Realizing that the Danes were resistant to the introduction any sort of anti-Jewish measures, the Germans did not attempt to force the yellow badge on the Jews of Denmark. In Western Europe, many Jews defied the orders to wear the yellow badge, and in the Netherlands, the Dutch underground newspapers printed 300,000 stars bearing the inscription “Jews and non-Jews are one and the same.”

   In the Nazi concentration camps, the Jews were required to wear a yellow Star of David patch.