There were strictly defined procedures for punishing prisoners in German concentration camps. In Auschwitz, regulation penalties were assessed in writing by the commandant or camp director on the basis of reports submitted by SS men and prisoner functionaries. Offenses regarded as punishable included among others attempting to obtain additional food, for example by picking an apple off a tree at the work place; attempting to avoid work or malingering, for instance by attempting to change Kommando or warming oneself at a coke stove; performing various acts at a non‑regulation time or place, such as relieving oneself; possessing additional clothing or other personal belongings.

The most frequently applied punishments included flogging, jailing in the cells of camp prison, punishment by the post, assignment to the penal company, or additional labor under supervision. Aside from regulation penalties, prisoners were punished on the spot by SS men and functionaries for actual or alleged infractions. On such occasions they usually received a savage beating and kicking, or so-called sport.

(Mini dictionary of terms from the history of Auschwitz)