Museum exhibit /Badge with the number of a prisoner in the OzerLag [Lake Camp]
 
The number-badge with the personal number of the prisoner (“AK-709”) belonged to Ida Moiseevna Nappelbaum (1900-1992), a prisoner in the OzerLag (Taishet town, Irkutsk oblast’) at the beginning of the 1950s. After her release in 1954 I.M. Nappelbaum kept the badge as a reminder of her time in prison. In 1995 Ekaterina Mikhailovna Tsarenkova (born 1932), I.M. Nappelbaum’s daughter, gave the family keepsake to the Research and Information Centre “Memorial” (St Petersburg). (Photo 19.12.2007). 
 
 
 
 
Authenticity
 
Registration number in museum acquisition book KP-5
 
Date of acquisition1995
 
Types of exhibitsMuseum exhibits/Objects/
 
Types of exhibitsMuseum exhibits/Objects/
 
Thematic indexThe Camps
 
Thematic indexLife in Captivity/
 
Thematic indexMemory
 
Date and place of creationBeginning of the 1950s, OzerLag (Taishet)
 
Years and places of existence in subject-related functionBeginning of the 1950s, OzerLag (Taishet)
 
Size15.5cm x 4.5cm
 
MaterialsFabric
 
Description of exhibitA badge made from coarse calico fabric in the form of a rectangular strip. The inscription “AK-709” done in black dye.
 
State of preservationDirty, the edges are frayed.
 
Detailed annotationA badge with the personal number of the prisoner “AK-709”. Belonged to Ida Moiseevna Nappelbaum during her imprisonment in the OzerLag [Lake Camp] in 1951-1954. Judging by its size, it was worn on the sleeve. Badges with the personal numbers of prisoners were introduced in 1943. According to the “Instruction for the Registration and Transportation of Prisoners Sentenced to Penal Servitude”, ratified by Order of the NKVD [ People’s Commissariat for Internal Affairs – the Secret Police] No. 001241 dated 17.07.1943, the following regulation existed with reference to the use of personal numbers for prisoners: “The personal files for strict-regime prisoners are allocated numbers according to the register of those sentenced to penal servitude and operate in isolation from the General Register of Prisoners. The number of personal files goes in series from No.1 to No.999 inclusive. Each series in turn is allocated a letter of the alphabet, placed before the file number . <...> After the number there are the letters “KTR” (Sentenced to Hard Labour) <...> The number indicated is transferred to all the registration documents initiated for the person who is sentenced to hard labour. The number of the personal file (minus the “KTR”) is sewn onto the clothing of the prisoner doing hard labour”. It was generally insisted upon that the numbers should be in a colour that contrasts with the colour of the clothing. In several camps the numbers were written in white oil-based paint on dark outer clothing – this was one of the duties of the artists in the cultural-educational sections. On the whole, numbers were written in black ink on white strips of fabric, which the prisoners themselves were obliged to sew onto their clothing and keep in good condition. The badges appeared on the sleeves and on the back of the padded jacket, on the trousers in the knee area, on the hat or on the kerchief. The use of badges with the personal numbers of prisoners was discontinued in 1954 when the Special Camps were disbanded. On her release, I.M.Nappelbaum kept the badge as a memento of her life in prison. The badge was given to the Research and Information Centre “Memorial” (St Petersburg) in 1995 by her daughter, Ekaterina Mikhailovna Tsarenkova (born 1932). In the “Memorial” archives there is also a typewritten copy of a poem by I.M. Nappelbaum, entitled “Ty – nomer, ty – ne chelovek…” [“You are a number – and no longer a person...”], which mentions the number “AK-709”, the number she was given. The poem was written in 1952 on the Taishet-Bratsk Railway.
 
PersonsNappelbaum Ida Moiseevna, owner
 
PersonsTsarenkova (nee Frakman) Ekaterina Mikhailovna, creator of collection
 
Thematic groupsKey words/
 
Thematic groupsKey words/
 
Thematic groupsKey words/
 
Thematic groupsKey words/
 
Web page?Yes
 
 
 
Museum exhibit /Badge with the number of a prisoner in the OzerLag [Lake Camp]