--- title: "These four photos are the only ones ever taken inside a Nazi death camp" description: "Shot by a Greek prisoner, these four photos are the only ones ever taken inside a Nazi death camp during World War II." date: "2022-03-08" modified: "2023-03-07" authors: - name: "Blake Stilwell" job_title: "Editor-In-Chief, Air Force Veteran" link: "https://www.wearethemighty.com/authors/blake/" url: "https://www.wearethemighty.com/mighty-history/four-photos-nazi-death-camp/" categories: - "History" - "War History" - "World War II" --- # These four photos are the only ones ever taken inside a Nazi death camp ![A brick building with a central tower featuring a large arched gateway. Railroad tracks lead directly to the gateway, extending into the distance. The building has a tiled roof with small windows, and there is a large puddle reflecting part of the building and sky. Grass and a paved area flank the railroad tracks.]() *The gatehouse of Auschwitz II, also known as Auschwitz II-Birkenau, a Nazi German extermination camp in occupied Poland during the Holocaust. (Public domain)* The "*Sonderkommando* Photographs" are the only known photos taken of the gas chambers and cremation pits at Auchwitz, the infamous Nazi death camp. Shot by a Greek prisoner, the four photos were smuggled to the Polish Resistance where they were cropped and retouched to make them clearer. They were published in a 1945 Polish legal report about the camp. They were later published in a Polish-language book, called "[We Have Not Forgotten]()." ![concentration camp]() The Auschwitz-Birkenau concentration camp in occupied Poland was among the most notorious of the Nazi death camps. The SS guards there methodically killed inmates once they were no longer deemed fit to work by leading them into a gas chamber under the auspices that they were taking a shower. ![photo 280]() *Photo 280* The [Nazi]() death camp used Jewish inmates -- called *sonderkommandos* -- to work the gas chambers and the four crematoria. The *sonderkommandos* would collect the dead inmates' personal belongings and dispose of the bodies. ![women being taken into auschwitz]() *282 shows women being taken into the Auschwitz gas chamber.* One such prisoner was [Alberto Errera, a Greek naval officer ]()who was eventually killed by the guards after punching a Nazi SS officer. He took the photos with a German Leica that was [smuggled into the camp by four other prisoners](). They had to be careful when taking the photos, as the SS guards would have surely killed them had they been were discovered. ![281 pit nazi death camp]() *A cropped and corrected version of 281* The Greek prisoner shot the photos from the hip while the other four men kept an eye out for the guards. As a result, some of the photos are strangely framed, showing only trees. All of the photos were reportedly taken within 20 minutes of each other. ![nazi death camp pit]() *Cropped, corrected 280* The film was smuggled out of the camp via a toothpaste tube carried by the woman who ran the SS' canteen. She [got the film to the Polish Resistance](), along with a note from two political prisoners that read the following: Urgent. Send two metal rolls of film for 6x9 as fast as possible. Have possibility of taking photos. Sending you photos of Birkenau showing prisoners sent to gas chambers. One photos shows one of the stakes at which bodies were burned when the crematoria could not manage to burn all the bodies. The bodies in the foreground are waiting to be thrown into the fire. Another picture shows one of the places in the forest where people undress before 'showering' – as they were told – and then go to the gas-chambers. Send film roll as fast as you can. Send the enclosed photos to Tell – we think enlargements of the photos can be sent further. ![nazi death camp]() *283. Just the branches of a nearby tree.* ## Author Blake Stilwell is We Are The Mighty's Editor-in-Chief, covering military news, entertainment, and history, along with veteran education, employment and entrepreneurship. He is a former U.S. Air Force combat cameraman with degrees in Graphic Design, Television and Film, International Relations, Public Relations, Business Management and Middle Eastern Affairs. After leaving the military, he began working in film and television production in New York and Los Angeles, work that included ABC News, NBC Olympics, and HBO Sports. He then spent two years in Washington with White House Communications, before joining the Near East Foundation. At NEF he served as an International Development Fellow, then Communications Officer, and finally, Media Officer for the Middle East and Africa. Based in the Palestinian Territory, he coordinated strategic communications between eight country offices, international media, and government and NGO partners. He began a career focused on writing and editing in 2015 with We Are The Mighty. He left in 2019 for Military.com, but returned as Editor-in-Chief in 2025. Blake’s work has been seen on CBS News, Fox News, CBC, The Chicago Tribune, Task & Purpose, Military Times, Recoil, Skillset, American History, and was shockingly even used in a Supreme Court argument. He is an avid traveler and small business owner in Ohio, where he spends most of his energy fixing up a very old house. ### Author social links [Facebook]() [Twitter]() [Instagram]() [LinkedIn]()