2 5 DESIGNS
tary or cooperate with authorities in any way. Many legit-
imate thieves found themselves demoted tofrayer(out-
sider),muzhik(peasant), orsuka(traitor, a bitch). This
was part of a power struggle; with limited resources in
prison, outlawing the “bitches” (suki) allowed the legiti-
mate thieves to take more for themselves.
[10]
Tattoos were modified and new designs appeared to dis-
tinguish between the two groups. The dagger piercing a
heart was modified, adding an arrow: this tattoo indicated
a legitimate thief and his desire to seek vengeance against
those who had violated the thieves’ code. The compass
rose became an indicator of aggression to prison officials
and the “bitches”, indicating the vow that “I will never
wearepaulettes" and hatred towards those who had served
in the Soviet Army. Secret acronyms were created by
legitimate thieves that the “bitches” wouldn't recognise,
such as SLON (lit. “elephant”), meaning "Suki Lyubyat
Ostry Nozh" (“Bitches love a sharp knife”).
[11]
3 Khrushchev’s reforms and de-
cline of tattooing
In the 1950sNikita Khrushchevdeclared a policy for the
eradication of criminality from Soviet society. Along
with propaganda denouncing the “traditional thief” that
had grown in popularity in Russian culture, punishments
in the prisons intensified for anyone that identified as a
legitimate thief, including beatings and torture. As a re-
sponse to this persecution, the thieves’ laws were intensi-
fied and the punishment for prisoners wearing unearned
tattoos increased from removal to rape and murder.
[12]
By the 1970s, the intensification of the thieves’ laws had
resulted in reprisals against the legitimate thieves, orches-
trated by prison authorities who would often throw a le-
gitimate thief into cells with prisoners they had punished
or raped.
[13]
To reduce tensions, criminal leaders out-
lawed rites of passage and outlawed rape as a punishment.
Fights between inmates were outlawed and conflicts were
to be resolved through mediation by senior thieves. Addi-
tionally, a fashion for tattooing had spread through juve-
nile prisons, increasing the number of inmates with “ille-
gitimate” tattoos. This ubiquity along with the reduction
in violence meant that the “criminal authorities” stopped
punishing “unearned” tattoos.
In 1985,perestroikaand the new increase in tattoo par-
lours made tattooing fashionable, and further diluted the
status of tattoos as a solely criminal attribute.
[2]
4 Application
The tattooists, orkol’shchiki(prickers), were held in high
regard. Tattoo needles can be referred to aspeshnya
(ice pick),pchyolka(bee),shpora(spur), orshilo(sting),
while the tattoo gun can be referred to asmashinka(lit-
tle machine) orbormashina(dentist’s drill), and the ink
is referred to as eithermazut(fuel oil) orgryaz(dirt).
The tattoos themselves were referred to as areklama
(advertising),regalka(regalia),kleimo(brand), orrospis
(painting).
[9]
5 Designs
Common designs and themes grew over the years, often
having different meanings depending on the location of
the tattoo. The imagery often does not literally mean what
it is depicting—for example, tattoos displayingNaziim-
agery represent a rejection of authority rather than an ad-
herence to Nazism. Combinations of imagery, such as a
rose, barbed wire and a dagger, form combined mean-
ings. According to lexicographer Alexei Plutser-Sarno,
the tattoos become the only “real aspects of his life”.
[14]
They are a symbol of the owner’s commitment to war
against the non-thief, the police (menty), and the “bitch”
(suka). The environment in the Soviet era was one of
heavy visual propaganda, and the tattoos are a reaction
to that, and a “grin at authority” (oskal na vlast), often
directly parodying official Soviet slogans with Commu-
nist Party leaders often depicted as devils, donkeys, or
pigs.
[15]
A thief’s collection of tattoos represent his “suit” (mast),
which indicates his status within the community of
thieves and his control over other thieves within the
thieves’ law. They might also represent his “thief’s fam-
ily”, naming others within hearts or with the traditional
tom cat image.
[7]
-Stars – Indicate an authority. On the shoulders or
the knees (“I kneel to no-one”). The eight-pointed
star denotes rank as thief in law depending on where
it is placed.
[16]
-Cat – Traditional sign of a thief, often with a hat
(from "Puss in Boots"). The abbreviation KOT
stands for “native prison resident”, or often the let-
ters “KOT” (kot;cat) indicate a chronic prison in-
mate (коренной обитатель тюрьмы,korennoy obi-
tatel tiurmy)
[17]
-Lenin or Stalin – Often tattooed on the chest, partly
from a belief that a firing squad would never follow
orders to shoot such an image.
[18][19]
-Orthodox church – Indicates a thief, usually a chest
tattoo, with the number of cupolas indicating the
number of convictions.
[20]
-Suns – Rays can be used to indicate number and
length of sentences served.
-Skull – Indicates a murderer. Following the aboli-
tion of the death sentence for murder in 1947, the