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Terms
During the Holocaust, kapos were prisoners appointed by the Nazis to supervise the other prisoners. The kapos were granted a number of privileges and they were largely drawn from groups of violent criminals, meaning that they were often brutal and vicious in their roles.
Kapo Quotes in The Tattooist of Auschwitz
The The Tattooist of Auschwitz quotes below are all either spoken by Kapo or refer to Kapo. For each quote, you can also see the other terms and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:
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Chapter 2
Quotes
“Aron could have told him you were ill, but he feared the kapo would add you to the death cart again if he knew, so he said you were already gone.”
“And the kapo discovered the truth?”
“No,” yawns the man, exhausted from work. “But he was so pissed off, he took Aron anyway.”
Lale struggles to contain his tears.
The second bunkmate rolls onto his elbow. “You put big ideas into his head. He wanted to save ‘the one.’”
“To save one is to save the world,” Lale completes the phrase.
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Chapter 5
Quotes
Without warning, the SS officer outside their block hits Gita in the back with his rifle. Both girls crash to the ground. Gita cries out in pain. He indicates with his rifle for them to get up. They stand, their eyes downcast.
He looks at them with disgust and snarls, “Wipe the smile from your face.” He takes his pistol from its holster and pushes it hard against Gita’s temple. He gives the instruction to another officer: “No food for them today.”
As he walks away, their kapo advances and slaps them both quickly across the face. “Don’t forget where you are.” She walks away, and Gita rests her head on Dana’s shoulder.
“I told you Lale’s going to talk to me next Sunday, didn’t I?”
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Chapter 15
Quotes
Their lovemaking is passionate, desperate. It is a need so long in the making that it cannot be denied. Two people desperate for the love and intimacy they fear they will otherwise never experience. It seals their commitment to each other, and Lale knows at this moment that he can love no other. It strengthens his resolve to go on another day, and another day, for a thousand days, for however long it takes for them to live by his words to Gita: “To be free to make love wherever, whenever we want to.”
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Kapo Term Timeline in The Tattooist of Auschwitz
The timeline below shows where the term Kapo appears in The Tattooist of Auschwitz. The colored dots and icons indicate which themes are associated with that appearance.
Chapter 2
...facilities at Birkenau. The officer explains that all prisoners must follow the orders of their kapo. After listening to these instructions, the prisoners line up for breakfast while their kapo introduces...
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...chipper, Lale tells him to ask again at day’s end. As if on cue, their kapo screams at the group, calling them “lazy bastards” and telling them to finish eating because...
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...him to stay put, explaining that it’s safer to remain on the roof where the kapo or guards can’t bother him. The Russian man then explains that he and his friend...
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...dressing in civilian clothes. Furthermore, he wonders how he could get a job like his kapo, who never seems to do anything but walk around and who’s never forced by the...
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...minimize the amount of physical labor he’s forced to do, Lale tries to impress his kapo one day by yelling at his fellow workers, urging them to toil faster because there’s...
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...in Block 7, Lale discovers that Aron is gone. Lale’s bunkmates tell him that the kapo took Aron away: the kapo was looking for Lale but he couldn’t find him, and...
(full context)
Chapter 3
...sleeve. He then makes his way to Block 7 and he walks easily by the kapo, who has apparently been informed that he’s no longer in charge of Lale. Inside, Lale...
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Chapter 5
...smiling and he deprives her and Dana of breakfast. “Don’t forget where you are,” her kapo says. Nonetheless, Gita simply turns to Dana and she says, “I told you Lale’s going...
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Chapter 7
...inside, he sees Dana, who tells him that Gita is ill. She says that their kapo wants to send Gita away, but Lale tells her not to let this happen, asking...
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Chapter 8
...his former block, sneaking him inside so that he’s there in the morning when the kapo calls his number.
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Chapter 14
...his assistant when he’s strong enough to work again. To that end, Lale bribes the kapo of Block 7 to let Leon stay there during the coming days, allowing his friend...
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Chapter 15
...from his experience in the crematorium, Lale goes to Gita’s block and he gives her kapo a piece of chocolate, asking her to get Gita and bring her back to the...
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Chapter 17
...he and Gita keep their Sunday tradition of meeting up, and Lale often bribes Gita’s kapo into letting them spend alone time in her empty block. Finally, Gita tells Lale that...
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Chapter 21
With the chocolate in his bag, Lale goes to Gita’s block, where he bribes the kapo into letting him spend alone time with his lover. When Gita arrives, Lale explains that,...
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