Symbols of a criminal life: Russian mafia tattoo
If before, drawing tattoos on your body was considered a symbol of some savagery, today tattoos are one of the ways to decorate your body, express or isolate yourself as a person in society. And sometimes tattoos serve as a special symbol of communication between people .... for example between those who are in prison.
In different prisons of the world, tattoos have a completely different meaning than in real life and are the most important part of the prisoner's uniform. In prisons, tattoos are used to demonstrate their crimes, because of which the prisoner is serving his prison term. It is thanks to tattoos that other people can read on the body of the criminal most of his life and all his atrocities, and in particular thanks to this peculiar "symbolism" you can understand what kind of person stands before you: a thief, a homosexual, a criminal authority ... That's how tattoos in Prisons define the importance and importance of a person in the criminal world.
The dagger pierced through the neck in this photo shows that the prisoner committed a murder in prison, and the number of blood drops below the blade of the dagger indicates the number of murders committed and the willingness to accept a "new order" at any time. Tattoos on the fingers usually mean determine the public status of the offender, and to determine it you need to look at other tattoos. For example, the stars on their knees are not significant tattoos, and they say only that: "I never kneel before the police." But the bells and shackles on both ankles indicate that the prisoner has repeatedly served 5 years in prison "from call to bell."
But in this photo we see a typical prisoner, who, as such, has no special feats. The only sign on which to pay attention is the open mouth of the tiger - a tattoo symbolizes aggression (grin) and hostile attitude towards the authorities. But despite the status among prisoners this tattoo meets very often.
On the tattoos of this prisoner, all his anger and hatred for communist power is demonstrated, and the inscription on his hand says (Communists suck my cock) - apparently for his "spoiled" youth and best years of life. And the inscription under the eyes "Full of Love" means that the prisoner has resigned himself to the verdict and never expects to be released - perhaps he killed several Communists? This is not surprising, because sometimes on the body of prisoners it was possible to meet and here are such tattoos:
"The first tattoo says that 90 million Communists have already been killed, and therefore the communists repent! " And the second one says that "Stalin was born on the 9th day of the moon, his image of the bat is a symbol of Satan!" 21.12.1879 - 5.3.1953 (date of birth and death).
The tattooed inscription "Gott mit uns" says that the prisoner was repeatedly convicted for drug-related crimes. And the Nazi iron cross of the Third Reich and barbed wire on the forehead indicate that the prisoner expresses complete aggression towards other people: "Nobody and nothing cares me" and "I will never become another."
On the body of this prisoner are combined tattoos of old and new styles. That is, for the most part, these tattoos are arbitrary drawings, with the exception of the eyes on the forearms. This tattoo says that the prisoner is looking, and you can decipher it like this: "I see everything" "I can not hide anything from me, I'm looking at everything and everywhere."
These and many other tattoos have their origins in the 1990s, while in Russia there was complete confusion and a fierce power struggle between politicians and the mafia.
Very interesting write up.
Some of the tattoos really do tell a story.
The bells on the ankles and feet is pretty interesting.
Very cool post