A ''Kommando'' (, "unit" or "command") is a general term for special police and military forces in German, Dutch, and

Afrikaans Afrikaans is a West Germanic languages, West Germanic language spoken in South Africa, Namibia and to a lesser extent Botswana, Zambia, Zimbabwe and also Argentina where there is a group in Sarmiento, Chubut, Sarmiento that speaks the Pat ...

speaking nations. It was also the term in the World War II era ''Luftwaffe'' for special units used to test new aircraft for combat readiness (as '' Erprobungskommando'' units) and examples existed that only used the "Kommando" name, such as the Luftwaffe ''Gruppe''-sized '' Kommando Nowotny''. In the winter/spring 1945 period, single-plane ''Kommando''-designated units that used the Arado Ar 234 ''Blitz'' jet powered reconnaissance-bomber operated from hidden, forest-lined runways in eastern Germany. Before and during

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

, the basic unit of organization of forced labourers in

Nazi concentration camps From 1933 to 1945, Nazi Germany operated more than a thousand concentration camps (), including subcamp (SS), subcamps on its own territory and in parts of German-occupied Europe. The first camps were established in March 1933 immediately af ...

, equivalent to a detail or detachment were referred to as ''Kommandos''. Among the most notable of such units were the Sonderkommandos (), carrying out the Final Solution by guarding the newly arrived inmates, escorting them to

gas chamber A gas chamber is an apparatus for killing humans or animals with gas, consisting of a sealed chamber into which a poisonous or asphyxiant gas is introduced. Poisonous agents used include hydrogen cyanide and carbon monoxide. History Donatie ...

s, searching the bodies and burning them. '' Außenkommandos'' were external work details that were set up, either leaving from the concentration camp or from outside the camp boundary. In '' Auschwitz: A Doctor's Eyewitness Account'', concentration camp survivor Dr.

Miklós Nyiszli Miklós Nyiszli (17 June 1901 – 5 May 1956) was a Hungarian prisoner of Jewish heritage at Auschwitz concentration camp. Nyiszli, his wife, and young daughter, were transported to Auschwitz in June 1944. Upon his arrival, Nyiszli vo ...

(who served on Dr.

Josef Mengele Josef Mengele (; 16 March 19117 February 1979) was a Nazi German (SS) officer and physician during World War II at the Russian front and then at Auschwitz during the Holocaust, often dubbed the "Angel of Death" (). He performed Nazi hum ...

's medical kommando) describes the "tooth-pulling kommando". These teams of eight, all "fine stomatologists and dental surgeons" equipped "in one hand with a lever, and in the other a pair of pliers for extracting teeth", worked in the crematoria. Stationed in front of the ovens, their job was to pry open the mouths of prisoners who had been gassed and extract, or break off, "all gold teeth, as well as any gold bridgework and fillings". Other kommandos depended on the job they were assigned to, such as woodcutting kommandos, factory kommandos or kitchen kommandos.

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