however, dachau was under the control of the ss. sometime in may 1933, ss camp commandant hilmar wäckerle wrote the first "lagerordnung" for a concentration camp. it gave all legal powers to the camp commandant. the dachau lagerordnung allowed prisoners to be executed based on a decision from two ss men who had been chosen by the commandant. the accused prisoner would no longer have a defense. the executive, judicial, and legislative parts of government were all placed together under the camp commandant's power. there would be no system of checks and balances. the threat of the death penalty was always there, which created a constant state of emergency for dachau's inmates.