Bidspirit auction | Yellow Badge Button – The

Yellow Badge Button – The Badge of Shame Imposed on the Jews of Bulgaria – Bulgaria, ca. 1942 - Yellow Badge Button Made of Bakelite, Which the Jews of Bulgaria Were Required to Wear on the Front of Their Clothing as a Mark of Identification and Humiliation – Bulgaria, ca. 1942. Due to Bidspirit policy, this item cannot be sold on this platform. To submit a bid, click  here The yellow badge was imposed on the Jews of Bulgaria in 1942 as part of the intensification of the anti-Jewish legislation enacted by the Bulgarian regime, an ally of Nazi Germany. On August 26, 1942, the Bulgarian government ordered the marking of Jews, and on September 29 the Commissariat for Jewish Affairs issued a decree requiring Jews over the age of ten to wear a yellow Star of David on the left side of their outer garment. Unlike the cloth badge commonly used in Germany and other occupied countries, the Bulgarian identifying mark was produced as a small Star of David-shaped badge made of Bakelite. The Bulgarian badges are among the smallest identifying marks that Jews were forced to wear in Europe during the Holocaust. Their production and distribution were the responsibility of the Commissariat for Jewish Affairs, the government body established in 1942 to implement anti-Jewish policy and centralize control over the Jewish population and its property. However, due to opposition from the local population and the Church, the decree was not fully enforced, and only about one-fifth of Bulgaria’s Jews wore the badge, accounting for its rarity. Despite the inconsistent enforcement, the requirement itself constituted a tangible stage in the isolation of Bulgarian Jewry and their transformation into a legally marked and discriminated group. The badge formed part of a broader system of exclusionary measures imposed upon Bulgarian Jews: restrictions on employment and commerce, confiscation of property, the marking of homes and businesses, restrictions on movement, and the conscription of Jewish men into forced-labor units. The purpose of the badge was to make the wearer’s Jewish identity immediately visible in public, distinguish him from the rest of the population, and facilitate his identification and surveillance by the authorities. 3.5 × 3.5 cm. Minor scratches. Good condition.