In honour of zaide: A Jewish man explains his Holocaust memorial tattoo as part of Ontario study

Tattoos have become more mainstream, but Pierce Goldman admits the memorial Holocaust tattoo he chose to have inked on his left arm has received some scowls from a older Jewish people who don't understand why he did it.

"They don't really know how to react," said Goldman, a Toronto resident.

"It's shocking for them to see a younger man with a number on his arm ... it's not one of those: 'Oh my God, that's an awesome piece of art.' It's meant to be a buzzkill."

The number he refers to — 140856 — was forcibly tattooed onto his grandfather's body when he entered Auschwitz concentration camp during the Second World War.

Goldman said a lot of people ask what it means, which leads to a conversation about his family history.

Researchers at the University of Waterloo are looking to speak to people like Goldman and other descendants of survivors from Nazi concentration camps who have chosen to get a Holocaust tattoo in honour of their ancestors.

According to Reisa Klein, a co-researcher with the university's (Re)Marked project, Holocaust memorial tattoos are a contemporary phenomenon she believes started within the last 10 years.

Klein said memorial tattoos have different meanings, depending on the descendant, since they were first given to their ancestors at a concentration camp during the Second World War.

"In the ghettos, Jews were forced to wear the yellow Star of David as a way of demonstrating that they were Jewish and really sequestering them from the youth, the public, and really outing them as Jews as a way of creating a sense of otherness," said Klein.

"Young people today are reappropriating these images that were utilized to dehumanize Jews as a kind of taking it back and as a celebration of Jewish identity."

Klein said tattooing is considered illegal in Judaism, but Goldman said he got his tattoo out of respect for his grandfather.

It's not known how many Jewish Canadians have received memorial tattoos. But Marvin Rotrand, national director of the League for Human Rights at B'Nai Brith Canada, said he's heard of people getting them over the years.

Rotrand said he understands the tattoo is a way for descendants of Holocaust survivors to connect with them and their family history. 

"You know, as such, there is no motive of the young people doing this to hurt anyone," said Rotrand.