Editor-DN
The names of 425,000 people who collaborated with Nazi Germany have been published online for the first time in a project called “War in Court” in the Netherlands. The BBC The report said the names were released on New Year’s Day after a law that restricted public access to the archive expired, ushering in a new era of transparency about the country’s wartime past. It had started.
The Huygens Institute helped digitize the archive, which was previously only accessible by visiting the Dutch National Archives in The Hague.
“This archive contains important stories for both current and future generations. From children who want to know what their father did in the war, to historians researching the gray areas of cooperation,” says the Huygens Institute. is
The archive contains approximately 32 million pages and details the lives and deeds of most of the Dutch citizens who served in various capacities with the German occupiers during World War II. In addition to names, the database also includes suspects’ dates and places of birth, which can only be searched through specific personal details.
Of the nearly half a million suspected accomplices, only a fifth were ever brought before a court, while others were prosecuted for lesser crimes such as being a member of the Nationalist Socialist Movement – the Dutch Nazi Party.
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Privacy vs. Transparency
Although the names were released to ensure transparency, the entire incident has been criticized by the descendants of the accused as well as the families of the victims. It has also sparked a debate over the ethics of secrecy versus the public’s right to historical truth.
Some fear the archive could rekindle old tensions and discredit those associated with a dark period in Dutch history. Meanwhile, advocates say such transparency is necessary for historical education and healing the wounds of the past.
Research It shows that about a fifth of the Dutch public is not comfortable with the idea of the children of Nazi collaborators holding public office.
The archive does not specify whether any particular person was found guilty, or what kind of collaboration they were suspected of. Users must file a request to view this specific information and, again, declare a legitimate interest in viewing it.
