Privacy fears halt online publication of WWII collaborator files – DutchNews.nl

Plans to place the biggest Dutch archive of World War II documents online in January have been temporarily put on ice because of concerns about the privacy of people who are still alive.

The files cover 425,000 people who collaborated with the Nazis, or were suspected of doing so, and were to have come online on January 2, 80 years after the end of the war in the Netherlands.

However, privacy watchdog Autoriteit Persoonsgevens has warned education minister Eppo Bruins that officials should be very careful about what information is placed online and how it is done. “Completely open access brings a lot of risks with it,” the AP said.

Relatives of people who collaborated with the Nazis during World War II earlier urged officials to be extremely careful when placing information about their ancestors online.

They argue the information should initially only be made available via libraries, town halls, and official archives which should prevent people looking to find out more about their neighbours or who are in search of scandal.

The original archive includes some 485,000 files containing 30 million documents, photos, diaries and letters from people who collaborated with the Nazis, as well as statements from neighbours and friends.

Bruins said he is disappointed at the delay because of the “great social importance in making this archive fully open and accessible”. This is not only key for relatives of victims of the Holocaust, but for researchers, education and the campaign against anti-Semitism, he said.

The archive is currently available to researchers at the Nationaal Archief in The Hague, but only if the person concerned is dead or has given permission for his or her file to be accessed.

The minister said he aims to amend the regulations covering public access to archives as soon as possible to enable the full set of files to be accessed online.