With the crushing defeat of Poland, the Nazis launched the policy of publicly identifying Jews. As a means of identification and humiliation, Jews would be forced to wear the Star of David. Noncompliance was punishable by death.

All Polish Jews over the age of ten were forced "to wear on the right sleeve of their inner and outer garments a white band at least four inches wide, with the Star of David on it." This stigmatizing label became a standard feature of Nazi policy throughout Occupied Europe. The Nazis cynically called the star Pour le Sémite (for the Semite), a pun on the German military decoration for valor, Pour le Mérite (for the Merit).

Branding Jews with the Star of David turned the symbol of Judaism into a badge of deep humiliation--and a form of torture. To merely go into the street meant being immediately recognized, monitored, shunned, abused, and ultimately marked for death. Jewish children, especially, were easy targets of verbal and physical attacks.

The placement, design, and colors of the badges varied. Initially, most were yellow triangle-shaped patches, some sewn onto lapels. German Jews wore a yellow star inscribed with the word Jude in black letters. In Dachau, two overlapping triangular patches formed a yellow star. Armbands in the Warsaw Ghetto featured a blue star. The badges of Greek Jews contained identity numbers. Russian Jews wore yellow badges on the left side of the chest and on the back.