A kapo (German: Kapo) was one of the prisoner functionaries (German: Funktionshäftlinge), a prisoner in a Nazi camp who was assigned by the SS guards to supervise forced labor or carry out administrative tasks.

Dec 9, 2024 · Why did the SS use kapos, block elders, and other prisoner functionaries? The SS created the system of prisoner functionaries primarily to save German manpower, money, and resources. The system also undermined prisoner solidarity and discouraged resistance.

Nov 23, 2019 · Mahl was convicted of war crimes he committed as a kapo, including obeying SS officers and tying nooses around prisoners’ necks. Under a system devised by Theodor Eicke, a brigadier general in the SS, kapos were the Nazis’ way of keeping costs down and outsourcing some of their least desirable work.

Jan 22, 2020 · Kapos, called Funktionshäftling by the SS, were prisoners who collaborated with the Nazis to serve in leadership or administrative roles over others interned in the same Nazi concentration camp.

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 .

The Lagerschreiber (camp clerks) were employed by the SS for administrative tasks in the prisoner camp. The so-called Kapos guarded the prisoners at work. At first, most of the prisoner functionaries were Germans and Austrians who had been imprisoned as criminals.

May 20, 2021 · Imprisoned in concentration camps, Kapos were enemies and victims of the Nazis; they were Jewish inmates who were forced by the Nazis to serve as “stand-in” guards. In effect, being a Kapo blurred the lines between collaborator, perpetrator and victim. The story of Kapos leads us to what Primo Levi has termed the “grey zone” of the Holocaust.

Oct 5, 2019 · Kapos, called Funktionshäftling by the SS, were prisoners who collaborated with the Nazis to serve in leadership or administrative roles over others interned in the same Nazi concentration camp. How Nazis Used Kapos

Work crews outside the camp were supervised by a Vorarbeiter (foreman), a Kapo, or Oberkapo (chief kapo). These functionaries pushed their fellow prisoners to work harder, hitting, beating, and even killing them.

A kapo or prisoner functionary (German language: Funktionshäftling) was a prisoner in a Nazi concentration camp who was assigned by the SS guards to supervise forced labor or carry out administrative tasks in the camp.