I have not gotten a tattoo, but I had thought about it. I had heard something about it being against Jewish law, but I am glad that I found out before I did anything. I was wondering if there was any special exceptions to Holocaust victims. I am sure that there is, but what exactly is it?

We must realize that although the Torah forbids us to permanently tattoo ourselves, what the Nazis did to the Holocaust victims was done to them involuntarily, so they really had no choice in the matter. There is nothing wrong with having a tattoo per se, the problem is doing the act of tattooing to yourself, or asking someone else to do so. Therefore, if , for example, a non-Jew would get a tattoo and then convert to Judaism, no prohibition has been done, since non-Jews are not forbidden to tattoo themselves. Likewise, if a survivor had his arm tattooed involuntarily, he has done nothing wrong, and may display his or her tattoo as a mark of pride, in that he has outlived his cruel oppressors.

I hope that this has been helpful,
Rabbi Aaron Tendler