A Dutch initiative known as ‘War in Court’ has now digitized and released a list featuring nearly half a million individuals suspected of being wartime Nazi collaborators, following the expiration of a law that limited public access to this archive.
The archive comprises 32 million pages, detailing approximately 425,000 individuals, predominantly Dutch, who were scrutinized for their collaboration with German occupiers during World War II.
The law that restricted public access was lifted just yesterday.
Only about one-fifth of those named actually faced a court trial, with the majority of cases relating to minor offenses such as membership in the National Socialist movement.
Initially, scanned documents will be made accessible online, allowing users to view files pertaining to suspects, their victims, and witnesses.
However, after receiving a caution from the Dutch Data Protection Authority, a decision was reached last month to delay the comprehensive release and instead share only the list of names.
No specific date has been established for the publication of those files, but individuals with a research interest—including descendants, journalists, and historians—may request to examine them at the Dutch National Archives in The Hague.
