Kapo

, Latvia, with a *Lagerpolizist* (camp policeman) armband.]]
A **kapo** or **prisoner functionary** was a special type of prisoner in the Nazi concentration camps during The Holocaust. Kapos were chosen by the *Schutzstaffel* (SS) camp guards to help run the camps. Some kapos were in charge of other prisoners, who had to do forced labor. Other kapos did paperwork and kept records in the camps.

The Nazis used kapos for many reasons. With kapos helping to run the camps, the camps did not need as many SS guards. The kapos helped the SS control the other prisoners. This made it possible for a small number of SS to run large concentration camps. Also, because kapos were prisoners, they were not paid for their work, so this system also saved a lot of money.

Even though they were not paid, the kapos got special treatment. They did not have to do hard labor, and they were not physically abused like the other prisoners. They sometimes got extra food, cigarettes, alcohol, regular clothes, and private rooms. However, to keep this special treatment, the kapos had to keep the SS guards happy. If they did not control the other prisoners well enough, the kapos would lose their jobs. They would become regular prisoners again.

The SS often chose kapos who were members of violent criminal gangs. These kapos often abused other prisoners badly. The SS allowed this abuse to happen.

## What did the kapos do?
The SS controlled the concentration camps. However, from day to day, the kapos helped keep the camps running. They made it possible for the camps to run with fewer SS guards. Sometimes, up to 10% of the prisoners at the camps were kapos. Without the kapos, the SS running the camps would not have been able to keep the camps running smoothly.

Kapos were often hated by other prisoners and were seen as Nazi . Sometimes, other prisoners would spit on the kapos. Some barracks leaders (*blockälteste*) secretly helped prisoners in their barracks get extra food or easier jobs. However, other kapos did more to help the SS, partly because they thought this would help them survive the camps.

Criminal kapos were called "professional criminals" by other prisoners . These kapos were known for being  and  to other prisoners. In fact, this was why the SS had chosen them to be kapos. According to former prisoners, kapos who were criminals were more likely to be helpful to the SS. Kapos who were sent to concentration camps for disagreeing with the Nazis' politics were more likely to be helpful to other prisoners. that, every time a new transport of [prisoners] arrived at Mauthausen [concentration camp], Kapo August Adam picked out the professors, lawyers, priests and magistrates and cynically asked them: "Are you a lawyer? A professor? Good! ... I am a killer. I have five convictions on my record: one for manslaughter and four for robbery. Well, here I am in command. The world has turned upside down, did you get that? Do you need a *dolmetscher*, an interpreter? Here it is!" And he was pointing to his bat, after which he struck. When he was satisfied, he formed a [work group] with those selected and sent them to clean the .

## Domination and terror
The SS used  and  to control the many prisoners in the camps with just a few SS guards. Kapos were a very important part of this system, where prisoners were completely controlled and always had to be afraid of being hurt or murdered.

The Nazis used many different strategies to torture prisoners mentally and physically, and to keep them under control. These strategies included: They often beat prisoners, and some even killed prisoners.

One non-criminal kapo was Josef Heiden. He was an Austrian political prisoner (someone put in prison because they disagreed with the Nazis' political beliefs). Prisoners feared and hated him. He was known as a sadist - someone who liked hurting and torturing people. He killed several people while he was a kapo. He was set free from Dachau concentration camp in 1942, and joined the Waffen SS. Some kapos personally helped the SS mass murder other prisoners. Beginning in October 1944, the Nazis started transferring criminal kapos to the Dirlewanger Brigade of the Waffen SS.

The second-most powerful kapos were the *Blockältester* (block or barracks leader) and the *Stubenältester* (room leader). The *Blockältester* was in charge of the prisoners in the barracks, and making sure they followed the rules. When kapos did these things, they usually did them only for people in their own group (for example, people from the same country or political party). Not every kapo did this, and the ones who did had to be very careful. If the kapos made the SS angry by helping other prisoners, they would lose their jobs and might even be sent to the gas chambers to be murdered. Heinrich Himmler described this in a speech:

The moment he becomes a *Kapo*, he no longer sleeps with [the other prisoners]. He is held  for the performance of the work, that they are clean, that the beds are well-built.  So, he must drive his men. The moment we become dissatisfied with him, he is no longer Kapo, he's back to sleeping with his men. And he knows that he will be beaten to death by them the first night.—Heinrich Himmler, June 21, 1944

## Related pages
* Nazi concentration camps
* The Holocaust
* World War II

## References