created by instilling pigment in the skin with thousands of needle pricks. In the camps, the process can take anywhere from a few hours to a few years, depending on the artist and his ambition, says Mr. Bronnikov. Because of prison conditions, tattoo artists have to improvise with materials and equipment. For instance, they will draw a picture on a wooden plank, place needles along the lines of the design, cover the needles with ink and stamp the whole tableau on the prisoner's body. Another method is to slice the image onto the skin with a razor and daub the cut with indelible ink. Usually, prisoners manage to get an electric shaver and a syringe with a needle, which they jury-rig into a tattooing machine. Ink is hard to come by, so to make dye, artists will often burn the heel of a shoe, and mix the ash with the prisoner's urine -- a practice convicts believe reduces the chance of infection." Common body tattoos and their significance (these tattoos are most characteristic of the Old Regime when the Vory V Zakone was more structured in prisons): 243 in a badge: signifies the wearer has committed battery on a police officer. Often worn on the arm or hand used for the assault. Taken from the California penal code. Barbed wire across the forehead signifies a sentence of life imprisonment without a possibility of parole. Barbed wire on the forearms or around the wrist signifies years served. Bells indicate a sentence served in full. Birds over the horizon: "I was born free and should be free." Bearer longs for a life outside prison. Cat: a career as a thief. A single cat means the bearer worked alone; several cats mean the bearer was part of a gang. The word "cat," in Russian, forms an acronym indicating the wearer's natural home is in prison. Alternately, can signify cleverness. Celtic Cross: Part of the racist white power movement. It has also been used to represent crosshairs of a gun, meaning that a wearer is a hitman, and he too will meet a violent end one day. Churches, mosques, fortresses, etc., are often tattooed on the chest, back, or hand. The number of spires or towers can represent the years a prisoner has been incarcerated or the number of times he has been imprisoned. A cross at the top of the spire indicates that