![]() Key factors in balancing cost savings and unnecessary deferrals include the magnitude of the pool of blood donors in the population, the prevalence of individuals with tattoos and the culture of tattoos in the population. ![]() Restricting deferral to more at-risk sub-groups of tattooed individuals would correctly defer less individuals and would also reduce the numbers of potential donors unnecessarily deferred. If having a tattoo was made a deferral criterion, cost savings (due to a reduced need for laboratory testing and subsequent follow-up) would accrue at the expense of the deferral of appropriate donors. Numbers of individuals who would be correctly or unnecessarily deferred from blood donation on the basis of the presence of tattoos, and on their number and type, were calculated for different prevalence situations based on published odds ratios. We examined the implications of these associations for the screening of blood donors in Brazil. Tattoos are common among drug addicts and prisoners, conditions that are also associated with transfusion-transmitted diseases. These associations are of higher magnitude for individuals with nonprofessionally-applied tattoos and with two or more tattoos. Army published a pamphlet on how to identify self-inflicted wounds to this part of the body.Having a tattoo has been associated with serological evidence of hepatitis B and C viruses, as well as human immunodeficiency virus infections and syphilis all of these are known to be transmissible by blood transfusion. Towards the end of the war and after, some (former) SS members tried to remove their blood group tattoos by various means, including surgery, self-inflicted burns and even shooting themselves there (the U.S. Some members of the SS who evaded capture in part because they did not have the blood group tattoo included SS Hauptsturmführer Josef Mengele and SS- Hauptsturmführer Alois Brunner. The blood group tattoo helped greatly in identifying former members, leading to their prosecution and, in some cases, their execution.īecause of the lack of perfect consistency between having the tattoo and having served in the Waffen-SS, some SS veterans were able to escape detection. The Allies were keen to catch all Waffen-SS members on account of the high volume of war crimes committed by some units. Because of these tablets, I was successful in passing two inspections conducted by our captors. Naturally the skin required about two to three weeks to heal. This was extremely irritating to the skin, but the tattoos simply came off after two to three days. We moistened these tablets and dabbed them on our arms. He brought us to a physician from the 14th SS Division, who provided us with hydrogen tablets to remove our blood type tattoos. ![]() Later, in the prisoner-of-war camp at Tamsweg, I met Sturmbannführer Karl Liecke from our division. Waffen-Gebirgs-Division der SS Handschar spoke of how he removed his tattoo: The tattoos were used after the war to identify SS-membersĪnd many former members (and Waffen-SS soldiers) removed the tattoo to be able to hide their SS-past for the allies.Ī soldier from 13. The tattoo was about 7 mm in length and was placed on the underside of the left arm, about 20 cm up from the elbow. Two different types of tattoos existed, one in Gothic lettering and one in Latin lettering, the latter one being used later in the war. ![]() The blood group was also mentioned in the personnel-files and his ID-papers. The purpose of the tattoo was to be able to perform a blood transfusion at the front to save a wounded mans life. The tattoo was normally applied to those who did their basic training in the Waffen-SS, but also non-Waffen-SS soldiers could get the tattoo if they were treated in the Waffen-SS field hospitals. Note that not all members actually had a tattoo even though it was required, this included any of the high ranking officers and those who joined the Waffen-SS in the later part of the war. The tattoo was generally applied by the unit’s Sanitäter (medic) in basic training, but could have been applied by anyone assigned to do it at any time during his term of service.Īll members of the Waffen-SS were required to have a tattoo on his left arm verifying his blood group. The purpose of the SS tattoo was to identify a soldier’s blood type in case a blood transfusion was needed while unconscious, or his Erkennungsmarke (dog tag) or Soldbuch (pay book) were missing.
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