In an era when freedom of expression was under strict control, tattoos became more than just decoration – they transformed into a language understood only by the chosen few. In prisons, barracks, and even among sailors, each drawing carried a hidden meaning, and its owner automatically entered the closed club of “insiders.” This is precisely what Oskar Poll – an artist, researcher, and junior research fellow at the Estonian Literary Museum, who has dedicated himself to studying Soviet tattoo culture since 2019 – talks about.