The photos that have survived of them arriving are not ‘official’. They are from German Camp Staff. They typically were taken for a private collection and, once the war was over, were hidden away. With the obvious danger of their previous positions they were hidden from the public and only once the former staff died were they released. This is where you find pictures of concentration camp guards lounging, socialising, and enjoying themselves while a death factory is only mile or so away.

While not pictures of arrivals, the other photos of concentration camps come from usually Jewish Sondercommando — prisoners selected to assist in the killing process. These are usually poor quality, taken from odd angles, and had to be smuggled out or later found among the rubble of the camps. Those who took these photos are usually unknown, as they themselves were killed. However, remarkably people within their photos have either survived or have been identified, allowing them to be verified.

So the few existing photographs of working death camps is an indicator of the secrecy of those factories of horror — and proof the nazis knew the evils they were committing and sought to keep it from escaping.