What a horrible story! The commandant was of course committing a war crime- reprisals are as bad as the original offence. The soldiers from neighbouring camps were volunterrs, so they didn't even have the excuse that they were only obeying orders.

But worse things happened. The British tortured people they thought were Gestapo. Often they weren't. Nothing bad happened to the torturers, except that they stayed themselves which I suppose is bad enough.