kapo

Clipping of Kaporal (Upper German), from Italian caporale (“corporal”), from Italian capo, from Vulgar Latin capus, from Latin caput. There is some uncertainty about the etymology of the sense "prisoner functionary". Pfeifer connects it to the same etymology as above, however Duden claims an origin in French caporal. In favour of Pfeifer is the fact that the first concentration camp, Dachau, was in Upper German territory and many early inmates came from the workers' movement and trade unions, wh