Category:Auschwitz Erkennungsdienst

The Auschwitz Politische Abteilung Erkennungsdienst ("Political Department Identification Service") was a kommando of SS officers and prisoners who photographed visiting dignitaries, prisoners, and building works on behalf of the camp's commandant, Rudolf Höss.

The Erkennungsdienst photographed gassings, experiments, escape attempts, and suicides, and took mug shots of registered prisoners when they arrived at the camp. The director, SS-Hauptscharführer Bernhard Walter, and deputy director, SS-Unterscharführer Ernst Hofmann, are thought to have taken the 193 photographs known as the Auschwitz Album.