Netherlands publishes 425,000 names of suspected Nazi collaborators

Adolf Hitler stands on the podium above other senior Nazi military officers at a Nazi Party Congress. The Netherlands has published the names of suspected Nazi collaborators online. Photo / Getty Images

The names of Nazi collaborators have been published online in the Netherlands for the first time.

The archive, consisting of 32 million pages, includes about 425,000 mostly Dutch people who were investigated for collaboration with German occupiers during the rel="" title="https://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/worlds-last-nazi-hunter-calls-on-nz-to-open-inquiry-into-how-war-criminals-came-here/D3PYLTF4LXWYHH4Z5PHJMYIK5U/">Second World War.

The law restricting public access expired on New Year’s Day and a Dutch project called War in Court digitally released the names.

The decision has drawn fierce criticism from descendants of the accused and families of victims.

Only a fifth of those listed ever appeared before a court, and most cases concerned lesser offences such as being a member of the Nationalist Socialist movement.

But concerns are mounting the move could reignite old tensions and stigmatise individuals linked to the dark history of Dutch collaboration.

To address some of these concerns, the Dutch Government has decided not to publish the full case files of the accused online.

Instead, these detailed records can only be accessed at the National Archive in The Hague.

The registry reveals personal details, including names and even addresses, as well as references to police and court cases against the individuals.

It also provides file numbers indicating what crimes the accused were charged with, though the contents of the files remain offline.

Critics have argued that publishing names without full context risks unfairly stigmatising families and communities.

According to a survey by public broadcaster NOS, one in five Dutch citizens would prefer not to see descendants of collaborators in public office, such as mayors or parliamentarians.

The study also revealed that many children and grandchildren of alleged collaborators continue to suffer from the weight of their family history.

Victims’ families and descendants of the accused alike fear the release of these names could tear open emotional scars that have barely healed.

Supporters of the decision see the publication as a necessary step towards transparency and confronting historical truths.