The definitive opening to the public of the digitized archive of the criminal files of those suspected of collaborating with the Nazis in the Netherlands during World War II has clashed with the Dutch Personal Data Authority. Scheduled for this January 2, 80 years after the end of the war, it contains reports and photos of 425,000 people investigated for helping the Nazis, of whom only a small part were tried. There are 30 million documents, diaries and letters, and in order not to violate the privacy of those who may be alive, protected by law, access cannot be unlimited. For now, the digital version will be restricted to family members and others who can make a reasoned request to see the data, and the consultation will have to take place in person.
The Central Archive for Special Jurisdiction (CABR, in its Dutch acronym), which is the official name, is included in the headquarters of the National Archives, in The Hague. It is an exceptional registry in Europe and what can be done starting this Thursday is to “consult on its website, through a specific address, a list of names to check if they have a file,” explain sources from the institution. .
The CABR is considered a “silent witness to the Holocaust”, as defined by the Minister of Education, Culture and Science, Eppo Bruins, but the delay in opening online the information it contains shows the social echo that a list of this nature has. , suspected of collaboration, is still 80 years after the war. The ministry is currently preparing a legislative amendment to make the archive appear online for everyone. The current solution “is far from ideal, but this archive is of incalculable value for historical research, the memory of World War II and for family members,” he told the Dutch news agency, ANP.
“With digitization, not only will it be possible to search for the name of a person, whether convicted or suspected,” since the data will be able to be cross-referenced and see their relationship “with other citizens and victims throughout the country,” he explains to the phone, historian Kees Ribbens. Specialized in the culture of memory of World War II, he maintains that the digital consultation “will allow for the first time the relatives of the victims to find information about their fate thanks to the connections that can be established” from the names of the suspects. to denounce, for example, Jewish neighbors. At the same time, “there is a fear that people will search out of curiosity for the surnames of their neighbors or other residents in their towns.” “And there are more than 400,000 people in this file,” he recalls.
The CABR files include the names and judicial records of 425,000 suspects. This condition could arise for collaborationism or for having belonged to the National Socialist Movement in the Netherlands (NSB, which functioned as a subsidiary of the German Nazi party), for treason and for enlisting in the German Army. But in the court files there are also letters of exculpation and attempts by family and friends to free the suspects. The vast majority were not charged in a trial. “Of the total number, 66,000 were tried, there were 140 acquittals and 40 executions,” say spokespersons for the archive. The rest of these defendants received prison sentences.
The digitization process continues – the plan is for it to be ready by 2027 – and protects the identity of those who do not have proof of their death. Despite the slowdown in its total opening to the public, and the fact that copies or photos cannot be made and distributed, a temporary installation is being created in the reading room of the National Archive that will allow surviving relatives and researchers to search the already digitized environment. “The request to enter may be resolved within a period of about six weeks,” indicate the same file sources. In addition to access to the file, a program is being prepared to facilitate the reading of letters sent to prison and “facilitate their translation into other languages.”
The documents are all of a legal nature and relate to investigations and trials, and this information has been presented in the historical context of a war in which there could also have been false accusations, Ribbens clarifies. “It is the problem of sources, known to historians, and we must be critical of what they try to say.” “Given the digital environment, it is good that it has been contextualized,” he adds. Faced with the current possibility of consulting the file on paper, with the online version it will be possible to expand the data search to the surroundings of the accused, “their contact networks, social origin or career.” In his opinion, as more people access this type of files, “it will be seen that war is full of gray.”
Ribbens says the race “is often seen in black and white, and there was opportunism, and it cannot be excused.” “But the occupation was complex.” At this point, he recalls a survey carried out between 2023 and 2024 by the National Center on Psychotrauma, about whether misgivings persist about working, today, with descendants of members of the NSB. “A fifth of society is not comfortable with the idea of the children of these parents holding public office, such as politicians or mayors.” This shows the survival of the trauma of war, “and that it will take longer until society as a whole feels that it is no longer so,” he concludes.
