Primo Levi’s nuanced reflections on the “grey zone of ‘protekcja’ and collaboration” in concentration camps refer to a small group of prisoners whom the SS tasked with supervising fellow inmates. These “prisoner functionaries” wielded power over others, including the authority to punish, torture, and even kill, in exchange for various privileges. They were organized into a strict hierarchy, from lower-ranking functionaries such as barbers and interpreters to kapos overseeing work detachments, block and camp clerks, and, at the highest level, camp elders. In survivor memoirs, they are often collectively referred to as Kapos. From the earliest testimonies, they have been predominantly depicted as brutal sadists, psychopaths, and individuals “morally debilitated” (Levi).

Drawing on 850 interviews from the Mauthausen Survivors Documentation Project (2002–03), my presentation examines whether and how narratives about Kapos have evolved over time. A comparison of early memoirs with later interviews reveals that the dominant post-1945 portrayal of Kapos as criminal henchmen of the SS remained influential among certain survivor groups into the early 2000s. However, this rigidly negative and stereotyped image weakens when juxtaposed with more personal and ambivalent experiences. Continuity and change stem from various factors, including shifts in memory politics, the “passive turn” in victim commemoration, and the enduring influence of social and racial prejudices.