Kapo (concentration Camp) - Domination and Terror

Domination and Terror

The SS used domination and terror to control the large camp populations with just a few SS guards. The system of prisoner functionaries was a "key instrument of domination" in the concentration camps and was commonly called "prisoner self-government" in SS parlance.

The camp rules, constant threat of beatings, humiliation, punishment and the practice of punishing whole groups for the actions of one prisoner were psychological and physical torments on top of the starvation, and physical exhaustion from back-breaking labor. Prisoner functionaries were used to push the prisoners to work harder, saving the need for paid SS supervision. Many kapos felt caught in the middle, being both victim and perpetrator. Though kapos generally had a bad reputation, many suffered guilt about their actions, both at the time and after the war, as revealed in a book about Jewish kapos.

Many prisoner functionaries, primarily from the ranks of the "greens" or criminal prisoners, could be quite brutal, especially when an SS guard was around, in order to justify their privileges. They also played an active role in the beatings, even killing fellow prisoners.

One non-criminal functionary was Josef Heiden, a notorious Austrian political prisoner. Feared and hated, he was known as a sadist and was responsible for several deaths. He was released from Dachau in 1942 and became a member of the Waffen SS. Some functionaries were personally involved in the mass murder of other prisoners. Beginning in October 1944, reichdeutsch criminal functionaries were sought out for transfer to the Dirlewanger Brigade.