War in Court goes to the provinces
From 2 February 2026, relatives and researchers in every province will be able to consult the digitised part of the war archive Central Archive for Special Criminal Justice (CABR). Outgoing Minister of Culture Gouke Moes announced this expansion in a letter to parliament, reports De Telegraaf.
From the article:
‘Given the advanced age of many interested parties, it is important to offer this opportunity close to home. Relatives and other interested parties can search by name or place,’ says Moes.
The CABR contains the files of approximately 425,000 Dutch people who were suspected of collaborating with the German occupiers during the Second World War. The original plan was to make the archive accessible online, but there has been a lot of fuss about this over the past year.
Read the article here (behind a paywall, Dutch only).
Amendment to the Public Records Act
De Telegraaf previously reported on the amendment to the Public Records Act (expected to come into force on 1 July 2026). This amendment should make it possible for the CABR to be publicly searchable. Researchers and interested parties will then be able to view the archive from home.
Read this article here (also behind a paywall, Dutch only).
Or take a look here on the website of the Knowledge Community for Information and Archives (KIA).
Speciality of the Huygens Institute
The Huygens Institute specialises in digitising historical archives and making them accessible. In collaboration with Digital Infrastructure of KNAW, the institute has digitised not only the CABR (see Oorlog voor de Rechter), but also the resolutions of the Dutch States General between 1576 and 1796 (see Goetgevonden) and is currently doing the same with an important letter archive of the VOC (see GLOBALISE).
The institute considers the amendment of the Public Records Act to be of great scientific and social importance.
