All the Frequent Troubles of Our Days: The True Story of the American Woman at the Heart of the German Resistance to Hitler

by Rebecca Donner

The prisoners at the concentration camp wear striped smocks with felt triangles sewn onto their left shoulders. At a glance, the SS guards know why you’re here. Red triangles are for Communists, Social Democrats, and other political enemies; green are for common criminals; lilac are for Jehovah’s Witnesses; and black are for so-called asocials—lesbians and prostitutes. Yellow triangles are for Jews, who are divided into subcategories. If you are a Jew who is also a Communist, you wear a yellow triangle over a red background. If you are a Jew who is also a lesbian, you wear a yellow triangle over a black background.