about Oorlog voor de Rechter
The Central Archives of the Special Jurisdiction (CABR) is one of the most important archives on WWII. Because this archive contains numerous special personal data, it is open to a limited extent on the basis of the Dutch Archives Act. This means that it can only be viewed under certain conditions. Nevertheless, the CABR is the most consulted war archives in the Netherlands. This public access restriction expires in 2025, exactly eighty years after the end of the Second World War. The youngest defendants will then be at least 98. It can be assumed that very few of them will still be alive in 2025.
In an innovative project, Oorlog voor de Rechter (‘War in court’), the National Archives, the Dutch Network of War Collections, NIOD, Institute for War, Holocaust and Genocide Studies and Huygens Institute for Dutch History and Culture, are going to tackle this. We are making the Central Archive of Special Jurisdiction searchable for everyone.
We are scanning the files. Ensure with autotranscription technology that the contents of the individual documents can be read by computers. Provide them with context, and link the documents to sources from other collections about the same subject. Of course, we also address the ethical issues. We engage in discussions with interest groups about handling sensitive personal information.
We present the completed part of the Central Archive of Special Justice online from January 1, 2025. The moment this collection becomes public according to the Dutch Archives Act. To make the complete archive searchable online, the project will be finished in 2027.
