A kapo leader at the Salaspils concentration camp in Latvia, wearing a yellow badge and a Lagerpolizist (camp police officer) armband
Location
Nazi camps in German-occupied Europe
Date
1939–1945
Incident type
Imprisonment, coercion, collaborationism
Perpetrators
Schutzstaffel (SS)
Participants
SS-Totenkopfverbände (SS-TV)
Organizations
SS Main Economic and Administrative Office, Reich Security Main Office, Volksdeutsche Mittelstelle
A kapo or prisoner functionary (German: Funktionshäftling) was a prisoner in a Nazi camp who was assigned by the Schutzstaffel (SS) guards to supervise forced labor or carry out administrative tasks.
Also called "prisoner self-administration", the prisoner functionary system minimized costs by allowing camps to function with fewer SS personnel. The system was designed to turn victim against victim, as the prisoner functionaries were pitted against their fellow prisoners in order to maintain the favor of their SS overseers. If they neglected their duties, they would be demoted to ordinary prisoners and be subject to other kapos. Many prisoner functionaries were recruited from the ranks of violent criminal gangs rather than from the more numerous political, religious, and racial prisoners; such criminal convicts were known for their brutality toward other prisoners. This brutality was tolerated by the SS and was an integral part of the camp system.
Prisoner functionaries were spared physical abuse and hard labor, provided they performed their duties to the satisfaction of the SS functionaries. They also had access to certain privileges, such as civilian clothes and a private room.[1] While the Germans commonly called them kapos, the official government term for prisoner functionaries was Funktionshäftling.
After World War II, the term was reused as an insult; according to The Jewish Chronicle, it is "the worst insult a Jew can give another Jew".[2]
^Cite error: The named reference Frei-Orth was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
^Sugarman, Daniel. "What is a 'Kapo'? The history of the worst insult a Jew can give another Jew". www.thejc.com. Retrieved 9 November 2020.; "Trump's pick for ambassador to Israel 'regrets' Holocaust-related slur". The World from PRX. Retrieved 9 November 2020.; "The crime: Collaborating with the Nazis. The punishment: Excommunication from Judaism". Haaretz.com. Retrieved 9 November 2020.; Beauchamp, Zack (16 December 2016). "Trump's pick for Israel ambassador thinks liberal Jews are "worse" than Nazi collaborators". Vox. Retrieved 9 November 2020.
A kapo or prisoner functionary (German: Funktionshäftling) was a prisoner in a Nazi camp who was assigned by the Schutzstaffel (SS) guards to supervise...
Obou Narcisse Olivier Kapo (born 27 September 1980), known as Olivier Kapo, is a French former professional footballer who played as an attacking midfielder...
Maxen Kapo (born 19 January 2001) is a French professional footballer who plays as a midfielder for Swiss Super League club Lausanne-Sport. An academy...
Service (Estonian: Kaitsepolitsei, officially Estonian: Kaitsepolitseiamet, KAPO for short) is a central national security institution of Republic of Estonia...
Kapoly is a village in Somogy county, Hungary. Political leader János Kádár originates from the village, his childhood was spent in Kapoly. It lies between...
Aurora Kapo (born 17 November 2000) is an Albanian singer. Kapo has represented Albania in international singing competitions. She started her career at...
Kapo (1915–1979) was an Albanian military commander and leading member of the Party of Labour of Albania. A member of the Communist Youth group, Kapo...
Capo dei capi (Italian: [ˈkaːpo dei ˈkaːpi]; "boss of [the] bosses") or capo di tutti i capi (Italian: [ˈkaːpo di ˈtutti i ˈkaːpi]; "boss of all [the]...
Vito Kapo (née Kondi, 11 September 1922 – 29 February 2020) was an Albanian politician who served as Minister of the Light Industry. She was the wife of...
(30 November 1995) - Death in June & Max Wearing Death in June Presents: KAPO! (6 June 1996) - Death in June & Richard Leviathan Scorpion Wind: Heaven...
Janketić as Oberkapo Berliner Dejan Čavić as Kapo Spitz Zlatan Fazlagić as Weiss Predrag Milinković as Kapo Jacob Svetislav Goncić as Gardener Gojko Baletić...
KAPO Avia was a large global cargo airline with its main base in Moscow (DME) and a secondary base in Kazan. It operated a fleet of ex-passenger (converted)...
Haka, traditional dances of the Māori people, have been used in sports in New Zealand and overseas. Haka are performed to challenge opponents before matches...
(골여시). It is played with the 60 card deck and the object is to reach gabo or kapo which is gambling slang for 9. The game seems to be derived from Kabufuda...
1158250°E / 55.8618167; 49.1158250 Kazan Aircraft Production Association (KAPO; Russian: Казанское авиационное производственное объединение имени С. П....
name "Kapo", was a Jamaican artist and religious leader. Considered one of the greatest artists in Jamaica's "Intuitives" artistic movement, Kapo's religious...
Kaapo Ville Olavi Kakko (Finnish pronunciation: [ˈkɑːpo ˈkɑkːo]; born 13 February 2001) is a Finnish professional ice hockey forward for the New York Rangers...
Kapo: Death, executed: July 4, 1946 Kazimierz Kowalski, Kapo: 3 years imprisonment Jan Brajt, Kapo: Death, executed: July 4, 1946 Aleksy Duzdal, Kapo:...
Dimitrios Kapos (Greek: Δημήτριος Καπός; born 28 August 1993) is a Greek professional footballer who plays as a centre forward for Football League club...
español esquelético Andreu Carandell as Preso crematorio Patrik Petrovski as Kapo carpinteria Minnie Marx as SS prostíbulo Koos Vos as SS oficina política...
to the east-northeast-flowing Haselton Glacier and the east-flowing Huka Kapo Glacier. Named by New Zealand Geographic Board (NZGB) (2005) after Steven...
for Best Director and Best Original Screenplay. His other films include Kapò (1960), a Holocaust drama; Burn! (1969), a period film about a fictional...
Global Information