Penal company
(German: Strafkompanie)
The men’s penal company was formed in Auschwitz at the beginning of August 1940. Prisoners regarded assignment to it, frequently ending in death, as one of the harshest means of punishment in the camp. Reasons for assignment to the penal company included contact with civilians; escape attempts; possession of additional food, clothing or too slow work—in the eyes of an SS man or Kapo. Prisoners in this Kommando were isolated. In June 1942 the prisoners in the penal company attempted a mass escape. As a result of the escape, the SS murdered over 350 prisoners. Nine men managed to get away.
The women’s penal company was founded in June 1942. The prisoners were employed building roads, digging drainage ditches and cleaning fish ponds. Like men, the women in the penal company were exposed to cruelty from SS men and functionaries. A particularly tragic event occurred in early October 1942 when German female prisoner functionaries used poles and axes to massacre about 90 Jewish women from France.