Seeking information on the Schutzstaffel & blood group tattoo

Dear Ms. Weimann,

Thank you for posting your request on History Hub!

We searched the National Archives Catalog and located a reference to blood group tattoos in the file Documents 9 & 10 in the series Select Documents of the Office of Strategic Services Released Under the Nazi War Crimes Disclosure Act, ca. 5/200 - ca. 8/2000 in the Records of the Central Intelligence Agency (Record Group 263). We also located 3 file units with references to blood group tattoos in the series Second Release of Name Files Under the Nazi War Crimes and Japanese Imperial Government Disclosure Acts, ca. 1981 - ca. 2002 in Record Group 263. These files have been digitized and may be viewed online via the Catalog. Please contact the National Archives at College Park - Textual Reference (RDT2) at archives2reference@nara.gov with any questions you have about the records.

We also located the series European Name Index to the Series "Case Files, 1944-1949" in the Records of the Office of the Judge Advocate General (Army) (Record Group 153) that contains a reference to identification of Schutzstaffel (SS) members and blood group tattoos on image 51 of this file. The file number 111-3 on the index card is located in box 105 of the series Set-Up Files, 1944-1949 in Record Group 153. Although the index is digitized and is available online in the Catalog, the other records are not. For access to and information about these records, please contact RDT2.

In addition, we located the series John Roberts' Subject Files, 1982 - 1986 in the Records of the Office of Counsel to the President (Reagan Administration), 1/20/1981 - 1/20/1989 (Collection RR-0113) that includes the file unit JGR/Nazi Prosecutions (2 of 9). This file has been digitized and may be viewed online using the Catalog; references to blood group tattoos are located on page 25 of the document. Please contact the Ronald Reagan Library (LP-RR) at reagan.library@nara.gov for more information about this record.

Due to the COVID-19 pandemic and pursuant to guidance received from the Office of Management and Budget (OMB), NARA has adjusted its normal operations to balance the need of completing its mission-critical work while also adhering to the recommended social distancing for the safety of NARA staff. As a result of this re-prioritization of activities, you may experience a delay in receiving an initial acknowledgement as well as a substantive response to your reference request from RDT2 and LP-RR. We apologize for this inconvenience and appreciate your understanding and patience.

Finally, the entry for John Demjanjuk: Prosecution of A Nazi Collaborator in the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum’s Holocaust Encyclopedia also discusses the use of blood group tattoos. We suggest you Contact the Museum to see if they can offer you any further assistance. 

We hope this is helpful. Best of luck with your research!