KAPO (CONCENTRATION CAMP)

'Kapo' was a term used for certain prisoners who worked inside the Nazi concentration camps during World War II in various lower administrative positions.
The German word also means "foreman" and "non-commissioned officer", and is derived from French for "Corporal" ('') or the Italian word ''capo''^[1][2]'. Kapos received more privileges than normal prisoners, towards whom they were often brutal. They were often convicts who were offered this work in exchange for a reduced sentence or parole.
This role has been described in many books, among them Viktor Frankl's ''Man's Search for Meaning'', treating it from a psychiatrist's standpoint. It is also mentioned in Elie Wiesel's autobiography ''Night'', and is featured in the Gillo Pontecorvo movie Kap%C3%B2.
From Oliver Lustig's ''Dictionary of the Camp'':

Vicenzo and Luigi Pappalettera wrote in their book ''The Brutes Have the Floor'' ^[3] that, every time a new transport of detainees arrived at Mauthausen, Kapo August Adam picked out the professors, lawyers, priests and magistrates and cynically asked them: "Are you a lawyer? A professor? Good! Do you see this green triangle? This means 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 striked. When he was satisfied, he formed a Scheisskompanie with those selected and sent them to clean the latrines. ^[4]

Contents

Reference

Reference

1. The theory and practice of hell: the German concentration camps and the system behind them, Kogon, Eugen, , , Berkley Books, 1980, (Translated from: Der SS-Staat: Das System der deutschen Konzentrationslager, Kogon, Eugen, , , , 1946, )
2.
Het Koninkrijk der Nederlanden in de Tweede Wereldoorlog, deel 8, gevangenen en gedeporteerden, eerste helft, de Jong, L.,, , , Staatsuitgeverij,, 1978, , p. 481
3. The author or translator probably refers to the book: Pappalettera, Vincenzo y Luigi. " La parola agli aguzzini: le SS e i Kapò di Mauthausen svelano le leggi del lager.", Milano: Mondadori (1969), Mursia, (1979), also "Los SS tienen la palabra: las leyes del campo
de Mauthausen reveladas por las Schutz-Staffeln". Barcelona: Editorial Laia,
(1969).
4. Oliver Lustig, ''Dicţionar de lagăr'', Bucharest, Hasefer, 2002 ISBN 973-630-011-0 (English translation online)