Crematorium tag found by a US soldier in Dachau concentration camp after liberation

Object | Accession Number: 1997.23.1

Overview

Brief Narrative: 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.
Date: found: 1945
Geography: use: Dachau (Concentration camp); Dachau (Germany)
Credit Line: United States Holocaust Memorial Museum Collection, Gift of Morris Guss
Markings: front, center, imprinted : 1886

Classification: Identifying Artifacts
Category: Labels
Object Type: Name tags (lcsh)
Physical Description: 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.
Dimensions: overall: Height: 0.750 inches (1.905 cm) | Diameter: 2.500 inches (6.35 cm)
Materials: overall : clay

Legal Status: Permanent Collection
Provenance: The crematorium tag was donated to the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum in 1997 by Morris Guss.