National Archives knew that victims were in files of potential Nazi collaborators in WW2
The National Archives already knew last year that the names of innocents or even victims appear in a sensitive archive with files about Dutch people who were accused of collaborating with the German forces during the Second World War. Yet the institution only published a warning after the media reported on this, NU.nl reported.
It was reported in February 2023 that from 2025, it would be possible for every person to see the list of people who were suspected of collaborating with the German forces during the Second World War. And yet, it was not until December 2024 that the government service decided to take action against the sensitive information of 425,000 people.
This came after the Dutch Data Protection Authority had spoken up about their concerns regarding the privacy of the people on the list. The National Archive decided not to put the list online as was initially planned. People now have to come by to the location to see the list.
De Telegraaf reported last Sunday that the names of Jewish people who were murdered by the Nazis are in the archive as potential collaborators. This led to the National Archive adding a disclaimer saying that not all the names on the list are suspects or accused of collaboration.
The National Archive could not say how many people are wrongfully on the list. They have deleted around 25,000 names from the war archive since the media attention last Tuesday.
