Politische Abteilung

An outpost of both the Gestapo and the criminal police (Kripo), the political department evolved into the most important of the five.

Theodor Eicke was appointed by Reichsführer-SS Heinrich Himmler to establish a system to run the concentration camps.

[1][2] Eicke drew up regulations for guards and for prisoners and set up five departments to oversee the camp.

At Auschwitz, for example, the Politische Abteilung consisted of: The camp registrar handled the registration of prisoners when they were admitted and when they left, whether by release, transfer, escape or death.

For a prisoner, the political department could mean, within the grim world of a concentration camp, a relatively pleasant place to work, or it could mean torture and execution.