This is an aerial reconnaissance photograph of the Auschwitz-Birkenau extermination camp, taken by the US Army Air Force's 8th Division on May 31, 1944. The photo-reconnaissance plane was on a bombing intelligence mission, looking for the nearby IG Farben war production factory.

In 1978, two CIA researchers re-discovered the photo and inserted the captions and arrows. The arrows are pointing to several groups of inmates inside the camp. Also visible are several railcars next to the ramp. Smoke billowing from the chimney of Crematorium V indicates that people had been exterminated in the gas chamber beneath it shortly before the photo was taken.