The prisons and camps allowed for the creation of a social system with a strict hierarchy that would include levels and ranks for the leadership and membership in the world of crime. To designate the level of specific prisoners within this world a making system was utilized. Prisoners would use tattoos with specific designs to display their affiliations and social caste levels. Over time, these tattoos became standardized making it possible to recognize prison rank in relation to the hierarchy set up by the prisoners, in terms of a social structure. The tattoos were created through the use of melted rubber to color the skin for specific designs. The location and design of a specific tattoo were recognized as sending a specific message to those who would observe them. The concept of prison tattoos common in prisons today was carried to one of its highest level in the Soviet prisons and camps.
During the WWII, Stalin freed many of those placed in Soviet prisons to take part in the military actions against the Germans. This experience allowed the members of the Thieves Underground to gain knowledge in the use of arms and see the impact of an organized effort toward a particular goal. Military experience provided the training needed to create a more organized system for these ex-prisoners when the war would come to an end. In many cases near the end of the war weapons and valuables were collected for use in the future of members of the “Thieves World”. Serving their purpose in the defense of Russia, at the end of the war most of these ex-prisoners were returned to the prison system. A split quickly arose between those that remained in prison and in the camps and those that had served in the Soviet Army. In this environment those that served were viewed as traders to the “Thieves World”. In defense these returning prisoners attempted to create their own organizations to aid in their survival within the prisons and camps. A civil war of a sort raged throughout the prisons and camps from 1945 to the death of Stalin. Each faction attempted to destroy the other and control in the camp and prison systems swung to one faction to the other over time. While the two factions fought with each other, both factions could not help but also learn from each other. Each side did have in common distrust and rejection toward the powers of the Soviets and this bound over time brought an end to the constant warfare and created a new and better-organized movement. With the death of Stalin many of these prisoners were released form the prisons and returned to Soviet society.
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