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The Kapos were part of the Nazi SS apparatus for maintaining the Concentration Camps. As opposed to the SS, most of the Kapos were gentiles, conscripted from among the violent criminal or political prisoners in the camps. They functioned as enforcers in the camps in order to keep the system organized. The Kapos were well-known for the vile way that they treated people in their care, often cajoling them and beating them. The Kapos were also in competition with each other and for the SS's "affection" to prevent them from being demoted to the status of ordinary prisoner, which would usually result in them being killed by their fellow inmates.

It is hard to classify their behavior as troubling, in the situation that they were in they were given the option to beat someone else, or be beaten themselves. It was the price that they had to pay for some power, some extra food and other perks. It was a job that nobody turned down.

There were some Jewish Kapos and there were some who treated people in their charge much better, only pretending to beat their charges when the guards passed by.

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Q: Who were the kapos and why is their participation in the maltreatment of the Jews so troubling?
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