Russian prison tattoos and meanings

Between andduring his career as a prison guard, Danzig Baldaev made over 3, drawings of tattoos. They were his gateway into a secret world in which he acted as ethnographer, recording the rituals of a closed society. The icons and tribal languages he documented are artful, distasteful, sexually explicit and provocative, reflecting as they do the lives, status and traditions of the convicts that wore them. Baldaev made comprehensive notes about each tattoo, russian prison tattoos and meanings, which he then carefully reproduced in his tiny St.

This is one of the most widespread tattoo designs that is easily recognizable in the Russian criminal underworld. Only a convict who has served his time can get a church or a kremlin tattooed on his body. Also, the number of domes is not random; it equals the number of prison terms served by the owner of the tattoo. A spider tattoo tells everybody that its owner is a thief. A spider that appears to climb upwards is a message that its owner is dedicated to being a thief and does not intend to cease his criminal endeavors.

Russian prison tattoos and meanings

In the era of the Soviet party, Russian prisons were controlled by a gang known as the Thieves in Law. This gang enforced strict guidelines, including what and where prisoners could tattoo on their bodies. Tattoos had to be earned through physical acts or other ways of standing up to authority, whether it was inside or outside of the prison. If the tattoos were undeserved, they would be forcibly removed from the person before they were further punished with beatings or worse. These days, the tattoo guidelines of the Thieves in Law are no longer followed and inmates are creating their own images with varied meaning. When worn on the knees, the stars are a sign of a prisoner who commands respect. Stars on the chest mark a higher rank. The tattoos must be earned, and an inmate wearing an undeserved tattoo risks a beating or worse. In the s, prisoners believed placing tattooed portraits of Lenin and Stalin on their chests would protect them from a firing squad. The authorities would not shoot at any images of their leaders; instead, they would shoot prisoners in the back of the head. An epaulette, or ornamental shoulder piece typically found on a military uniform, are used to signify rank within the Thieves In Law.

He had served a total of thirty-two years in prison for large scale thefts of state and personal property.

During the 20th century in the Soviet Union , Russian criminal and prison communities maintained a culture of using tattoos to indicate members' criminal career and ranking. Specifically among those imprisoned under the Gulag system of the Soviet era, the tattoos served to differentiate a criminal leader or thief in law from a political prisoner. The practice grew in the s, peaking in the s and declining in popularity in the s and s. The branding of criminals was practised in Russia long before tattooing was customary, and was banned in In the 19th century, a "pricked" cross on the left hand was often used to identify deserters from the army, and up until , criminals sentenced to hard labour were branded "BOP" thief , the letters on the forehead and cheeks.

This is one of the most widespread tattoo designs that is easily recognizable in the Russian criminal underworld. Only a convict who has served his time can get a church or a kremlin tattooed on his body. Also, the number of domes is not random; it equals the number of prison terms served by the owner of the tattoo. A spider tattoo tells everybody that its owner is a thief. A spider that appears to climb upwards is a message that its owner is dedicated to being a thief and does not intend to cease his criminal endeavors. On the contrary, a spider that appears to descend downwards means that the person has pledged to stop stealing. In certain cases, a spider who appears to be caught in his web might indicate that the person with the tattoo has a drug addiction. A tattoo depicting a cat is a symbol of pickpocket thieves. A cat holding keys may suggest a burglar.

Russian prison tattoos and meanings

In the era of the Soviet party, Russian prisons were controlled by a gang known as the Thieves in Law. This gang enforced strict guidelines, including what and where prisoners could tattoo on their bodies. Tattoos had to be earned through physical acts or other ways of standing up to authority, whether it was inside or outside of the prison. If the tattoos were undeserved, they would be forcibly removed from the person before they were further punished with beatings or worse. These days, the tattoo guidelines of the Thieves in Law are no longer followed and inmates are creating their own images with varied meaning. When worn on the knees, the stars are a sign of a prisoner who commands respect.

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Topics Photography. Hospital No. These tattoos can be found anywhere on the body. These days, the tattoo guidelines of the Thieves in Law are no longer followed and inmates are creating their own images with varied meaning. Tattoos became very important amongst the inmates, but they had to be earned. Bottom right: This image of the Devil and a woman can either mean that a woman pushed the bearer to commit a crime, or that both the Devil and woman are hatched from the same egg. Skulls can also mean an uprising against the government. The compass rose became an indicator of aggression to prison officials and the "bitches", indicating the vow that "I will never wear epaulettes " and hatred towards those who had served in the Soviet Army. BONUS beginner tattoo designs included! The dates refer to time spent in the Omsk Corrective Labour Colony. In general, stars, often more than a standard five-pointed star, are a symbol of freedom for Russian criminals. We've added you to our email list for daily Tattooing tips.

From the s to s , photographer Sergei Vasiliev and retired police officer Arkady Bronnikov documented tattoos on prisoners in the Soviet Union now Russia , and their photos were compiled into several art books by FUEL Publishing. These prison tattoos continue a tradition that goes back decades.

Russian children are also known to become impressed with the tattoos that they see on released prisoners and make their own attempts at tattooing, which usually ends up in a life of crime in their future. They can also be a symbol for a thief that has stolen from the church. Over time, prisoners began to take pride in these markings, viewing them as a symbol that commanded respect and deterred potential troublemakers. Various thieves tattoos. The secret world of Russian prison tattoos is rich with meaning, aggression, and violence, yet it is also full of skill and even art. The trousers worn by this inmate are part of the uniform of the strictest type of regime in the Soviet Union. Toggle limited content width. The most popular of the religious symbols is a portrait of the Madonna and Christ child, which indicates the inmate considers prison to be their home. Dangerous recidivists who had carried out grave offences such as murder or paedophilia were assigned to harsher regimes of detention, and were not released on parole. Differences between street and prison gangs. Jesus and Mary.