Other Forces

Auschwitz-Birkenau by above

Yad Vashem The Holocaust Martyrs\' and Heroes\' Remembrance Authority

One of the Auschwitz-Birkenau’s azimuthal photos taken by a Mosquito of No 60 Squadron SAAF took off from San Severo on 31 May 1944 for bombing intelligence purposes. The photoreconnaissance plane was actually looking for the nearby IG Farben war production factory and other war production facilities in the area. The photo material of this sortie was shared with the US 15th Air Force, which later bombed the IG Farben factory. Two US Central Intelligence Agency researchers reinterpreted the photo in 1978, and they inserted the captions and arrows on the photo. The arrows are pointing at several groups of inmates inside the camp. Also visible are several railcars next to the ramp. Smoke billowing from the chimney of crematorium (smoke in the photo) indicates that people were exterminated in the gas chamber beneath it shortly before. Victor Sierra