Five Chimneys: The Story of Auschwitz

Content Warning: This section of the guide discusses antisemitism, the Holocaust, murder, and physical and sexual violence.

The blocova is a term used for barrack chiefs who were chosen from among the inmates. She reported to the Lageraelteste. The Nazis tended to select brutal and large women for the role. The blocova often disciplined women in her care even though she was a prisoner herself, as participation in the camp’s hierarchy resulted in privileges and exemption from the selections for the gas chambers.

Lengyel remembers a time that the blocova called the women in the barrack to witness the “disobedience” of a woman who had diarrhea during the night: “Trembling like a child caught in a naughty act, she excused herself beseechingly: ‘Pardon me, please. I’m terribly ashamed, but I couldn’t help myself!’” (33). This anecdote emphasizes that the women could not hope for mercy from their blocova, even though she herself was also an inmate of the camp and therefore a victim of the Nazi system. This blocova, like others, likely participated in the camp’s culture of cruelty and punitive punishment in order to keep herself safe.