Summary
The Netherlands has released a digital archive of 425,000 suspected Nazi collaborators from World War II, following the expiration of a law prohibiting its publication.
The list, compiled by the Huygens Institute’s “War in Court” project, documents the investigations of mostly Dutch individuals, with only 20% ever tried.
This revelation sheds light on the scale of Dutch complicity during Nazi occupation.
While historians and educators hail it as a significant resource, some descendants of those named have expressed concern about potential backlash.
Access to more detailed records remains restricted to researchers.
They also made some mistakes by accidentally including some victims! I read there was at least a few people on there who actually died in a camp.
It’s also worth pointing out that ‘suspected’ is quite a vague term. If a neighbour didn’t like you and tipped you as a collaborator, you might very well be on that list despite being perfectly clean.
Still, it’s a good thing they’re at least acknowledging this uncomfortable part of Dutch history. Some families will finally have some closure/answers as to what their (grand)parents did or didn’t do during the war.
This is a good example of why witch hunts inevitably include innocent people. Maybe you started rooting out fascists, but somebody will take advantage of a ravenous mob given the opportunity.
Which is why Nazis actively carrying signs, showing tattoos, or shouting Nazi shit are fair game. At that point it’s just proactive self defense.
I’m glad my own name didn’t make it to the list.Those terrible people!No one will ever know.You’d have to be dead for your name to show up on this list
I’d also have to be Dutch. And also not Jewish.
One of the many bizarre details about my life and the people around me: my dad’s best friend was a Jewish kid in Amsterdam when the Nazis invaded. He was actually in school with Anne Frank’s older sister. He spent the war hiding in an empty water tower. I never asked him about it though, I didn’t want to know how bad it was to be honest.
“Suspected” as in not confirmed? I’m all for publishing the names of known collaborators, but just suspected collaborators sounds dangerous. I was alive during a regime where “suspected” was enough for an arrest and enhanced interrogation.
Of those in the database, only a fifth ever appeared in court, with most cases concerning more minor offenses such as membership in the Nazi party, Reuters reported.
A lot more were suspected than actually confirmed, yeah. Having your name on the list might seem like confirmation for some which is, geez.
When the KGB’s list of informants was released after the USSR collapsed, on thing that was evident was that the spies were trying very hard to make it look to their bosses like they had more influence than they really had. That included claiming as assets people who were proven not to be, and even a few dead people. I imagine that the same is true for Nazi spies.
