The names of some 425,000 people suspected of collaborating with the Nazis during the German occupation of the Netherlands have been published online for the first time.
The names represent individuals who were investigated through a special legal system set up towards the end of World War II. Of these, more than 150,000 face some form of punishment.
The complete records of these investigations were previously only available by visiting the Dutch National Archives in The Hague.
The Huygens Institute, which helped digitize the archive, says this is a major barrier for people wanting to study the occupation of the Netherlands, which lasted from its invasion in 1940 to 1945.
“This archive contains important stories for both current and future generations,” says the Huygens Institute.
“From children wanting to know what their father did in the war, to historians exploring the gray areas of collaborationism.”
The archive contains files on war criminals, approximately 20,000 Dutchmen who enlisted in the German armed forces, and alleged members of the National Socialist Movement (NSB), the Dutch Nazi Party.
But it also contains the names of people who have been found innocent.
This is because the archive consists of files from the Special Jurisdiction, which since 1944 investigate suspected associates.
The online database contains only the names of suspects – as well as their date and place of birth – which can only be searched with specific personal details.
It is not specified whether a specific person has been found guilty, nor what form of cooperation is suspected.
But it will tell users what file to request to see this information if they visit the National Archives. People who have access to the physical files must declare a legitimate interest in viewing them.
There is some concern in the Netherlands about giving free access to personal information relating to a sensitive period of history – which led to the information published online being initially restricted.
“I'm afraid there will be a lot of bad reactions,” Rinke Smedinga, whose father was a member of the NSB and worked at the Westerbork camp, from which people were deported to concentration camps, told Dutch online publication DIT.
“You have to anticipate that. You shouldn't just let it happen as a kind of social experiment.”
Tom De Smet, director of the National Archives, told the DIT that relatives of both collaborators and victims of the occupation should be taken into account.
But he added: “Collaborationism is still a big trauma. It's not talked about. Hopefully when the archives are opened, the taboo will be broken.”
In a letter to parliament on December 19, Culture Minister Epo Bruins wrote: “Openness of archives is crucial for dealing with the consequences of (the Netherlands') difficult shared past and for processing it as a society.”
How much information is made available online will be limited due to privacy concerns, and those who visit the archive in person will not be allowed to make copies. The Bruins have expressed a desire to change the law to allow more information to be disclosed publicly.
The online database website says people who may still be alive are not listed online.