This collection contains fifteen photographs taken at various German concentration camps, including Bergen Belsen, Buchenwald and Dachau, after they were liberated by the Allied Forces in early 1945. Thirteen of the images were taken at Bergen Belsen concentration camp, one at Buchenwald and one at Dachau. The images were created and distributed by the British War Office and Associated Press, respectively. The British War Office still functioned during this time as a department responsible for political and financial control of the army. Many of the images in this assorted collection form part of the ‘War Office Second World War Official Collection (photographs)’ created by the British No. 5 Army Film and Photographic Unit.
The photographs were taken as evidence of the inhumane treatment of political prisoners, particularly Jews, by the Nazi regime. Many of the photographs were entered as legal evidence against Nazis being tried for war crimes following the war. The images were also distributed throughout the British Empire and the United States to expose and demonstrate the extent of the atrocities committed by the Nazis. Some of the images also formed a part of a report commissioned by the South African government on the conditions in German concentration camps.