Kapo

The word is Italian and means head or leader. In World War II it was used for Jews who were given special assignments by the German occupiers in the ghettos and concentration camps. In the ghettos in Poland, a Jewish council and a Jewish police force were set up. In the camps, Jews were appointed as camp commanders, barracks heads or workers at the crematoria. Some of them used their position and the attendant privileges to help others, but some stories tell about flagrant atrocities that many of them were capable of. Their collaboration is explained by saying that they did not have a choice; if they refused to do as told, they would certainly be killed. Moreover, as camp commanders or policemen they got more food, which immensely increased their chance of surviving the war. Now, so many years after the war, the former collaborators are still living in constant fear. Any moment, their true identity can be revealed, when they are recognised by one of their victims on the street or on the bus. This film introduces a number of , as well as people who brought charges against them after the war. Their stories make up a painful chapter in the Jewish history that has hardly ever been discussed.