Photographs helped the police and the Gestapo identify civilian forced laborers during checks. Civilian forced laborers from Poland and the Soviet Union were often photographed during the registration process in the transit camps, and the photographs therefore sometimes show them holding signs with numbers on them.
The police departments were required to take the photographs themselves. If they did not have the necessary photographic equipment, they had to hire local photographers to come in and do the job for them. The costs this involved could be charged to the civilian forced laborers. Later, the district police authorities were responsible for the costs.