Kommando is a generic German language word meaning unit or command. During World War II it was also the basic unit of organisation of slave labourers in German concentration camps.

Among the most notable of such units were the infamous Sonderkommandos, carrying over the Final Solution by guarding the newly-arrived inmates, escorting them to gas chambers, searching the bodies and burning them.

Other kommandos depended on the job they were assigned to, like for instance woodcutters kommandos, factory workers kommandos or kitchen kommandos.

See also:

• German concentration camps
• kapo
• Language of German concentration camps