04 | The introduction of special IDs was an important instrument for the registration and monitoring of ‘gypsies’ by the police. This official ‘certification’, which the holder had to carry on them at all times, contained personal details (including those of the spouse, children and parents) as well as a photograph and fingerprints. First introduced in Baden in 1922, this practice was adopted by other German federal states in the years that followed.

Documentation Centre Archives/private collection of the family of Marco Höllenreiner