Holocaust Memorial Day 2025
The Holocaust: Evidence from the Air
The National Collection of Aerial Photography (NCAP) contains more than ten million photographs taken during the Second World War. Mostly created by Allied Photographic Reconnaissance squadrons, the collection also includes a million aerial photographs captured from the German Luftwaffe at the close of the war. Among these photographs are many that record the Holocaust in Germany and Eastern Europe.
Each of the photographs records a single moment in history, one instant within years of continuous killing. They are now part of a unique collection of evidence about the Holocaust. The photography is a testimony to the dead, to the survivors, and for the generations that follow. Above all, it allows us to learn the lessons, to deepen our memories and humanity and to transmit these lessons.
Read more about how the Holocaust is recorded in the National Collection of Aerial Photography in Allan Williams' article "The Holocaust: Evidence from the Air".
