Ka-tzetnik (KZ-nik, Kazetnik, Katsetnik) is a Yiddish word for an inmate of a Nazi concentration camp. The word is derived from the abbreviation KZ (pronounced as Kah-Tzet) for the German word Konzentrationslager by the addition of the suffix -nik of Slavic origin, which approximately corresponds to the English suffix "-er".

The designation "KZ" followed by a number (i.e., in the form K.Z.000000) was tattooed on the forearm of the inmates processed into the camps. Some survivors today still bear the mark.

One survivor, writer-historian Yehiel De-Nur, wrote his books under a penname Ka-Tzetnik 135633, after his Nazi designation. His work documents the history of Nazi atrocities.

External links

• Project Nizkor: The Trial of Adolf Eichmann, Session 68, evidence of Yehiel Dinur

Holocaust | Tattoos