Why did some camp prisoners turn against their own people in World War 2?


 We talk a lot about the Nazi camps and accuse only the SS guards. There is one sad aspect, there were also such prisoners as Kapos. The Kapos were prisoners but they were compelled by the Nazis to oversee other prisoners. This was a cost saving strategy and a psychological sadist game that created mistrust between inmates.

It was a vow or die to be a Kapo. When the Nazis picked you, you got an extra bowl of soup and a bed which were meager. You could buy yourself another day to live in a starving environment where soup would give you that time. It was very expensive, in case a Kapo did not manage to beat other inmates or to exhaust them, the SS guards would execute him.


There were Kapos who became villains. One such case is that of Emil Erwin Mahl who worked at Dachau and was involved in murders. After the war, he was tried due to brutality. But not all Kapos were evil. Others were employed in office in the camps and would rewrite names on death lists so as to save lives.


These people were termed as existing in a grey zone by the survivors such as Elie Wiesel and Primo Levi. They were not monsters or innocent victims but just ordinary people who were forced to be in a terrible nightmare and did not avoid to sell their dignity to survive.


Once the extermination camps at last were free, maddened prisoners killed the most dangerous Kapos which shows how the repressive regime turned good people to horrendous deeds to live.

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