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Dutch archives on accused Nazi collaborators to open to the public in 2025
(JTA) — The Dutch government is planning to throw open information about 300,000 people investigated for their collaboration with the Nazis, in a move that could accelerate a reckoning with the Netherlands’ Holocaust record.
For the past seven decades, only researchers and relatives of those accused of collaborating with the Nazis could access the information held by the Dutch archives. But a law guarding the data is set to expire in 2025.
In February, The War in Court, a Dutch consortium devoted to preserving history, announced that it would make the records available online when the privacy law expires. The effort drew additional attention this week when a New York Times article explored concerns the hopes and concerns held by people in the Netherlands who have an idea of what lies within the sweeping repository.
“It’s a sensitive archive,” Edwin Klijn, project leader of The War in Cort, told the Times.
“For years, the whole theme of collaboration has been a kind of taboo,” he added. “We don’t talk about collaboration that much but we’re now 80 years further and it’s time for us to face this dark part of the war.”
The Netherlands has world’s second-highest number of documented saviors of Jews, but it also had many collaborators who, aided by the topography and Holland’s proximity to Germany, helped the Nazis achieve the highest death rate there among Jews anywhere in Nazi-occupied Western Europe. Of 140,000 Dutch Jews, more than 100,000 were murdered. As is presumed to have happened with the most famous victim of the Nazis in the Netherlands, the teenaged diarist Anne Frank, many were given up by their neighbors and acquaintances.
The Dutch government investigated 300,000 people for collaborating with the Nazis and more than 65,000 of them stood trial in a special court system in the years after World War II. But it was only in 2020 that the Dutch government apologized for failing to protect Jews during the Holocaust, long after other European leaders and after local Jews had requested an apology; a town square was named for a mayor who handed Jews to the Nazis until last year.
The archive due to open in 2025 will offer widespread access to the files from the postwar investigations, which researchers who have used the files say are detailed — and also could contain false accusations made at a tumultuous time.
The 32 million documents contained in the archive stretch to nearly two and a half miles and include witness reports, Dutch National Socialist Movement membership cards, diaries, and petitions for pardons and photos. Currently, the archive receives between 5,000 and 6,000 requests a year and cannot accommodate more.
The documents will be digitized to allow searches by key words or names. “You will be able to type in the name of a victim and discover who was accused of betraying them,” Klijn said.
The effort will be second major digitization of a Holocaust document trove in the Netherlands, where an efficient collaboration machine made for detailed records. In 2021, the Red Cross transferred ownership of its Index Card Archive, a repository of nearly 160,000 cards with personal information of Dutch Jews maintained by the Jewish Council of Amsterdam, a body set up by the Nazis to govern the community ahead of its extermination, to the National Holocaust Museum in the Netherlands. The museum will reopen to visitors next year but has made the cards accessible online already.
Paul Shapiro, director of the Office of International Affairs at the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum in Washington D.C., told The New York Times that the new Dutch database is unusual — and important — because of the planned ease of access.
“Genocidal crimes leave a very long legacy behind them,” Shapiro said. “For better or worse, the only way to resolve some of those issues is to have your eyes wide open and look at the past openly and accept what the history really was. One way to look at that is through the paper trail in the archives.”
In 2020, the Vatican unsealed its archives from World War II, sharing 2,700 files that revealed details about Pope Pius XII’s relationship with Nazi Germany. Those records showed that the Vatican fought efforts to reunite Jewish orphans with their relatives and also urged the Pope not to protest the deportation of Italian Jews.
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The post Dutch archives on accused Nazi collaborators to open to the public in 2025 appeared first on Jewish Telegraphic Agency.
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Israel and Syria Set to Hold First Senior-Level Talks Since Al-Sharaa’s Washington Visit
US President Donald Trump meets with Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa at the White House, Washington, DC, US, Nov. 10, 2025. Photo: Screenshot
i24 News – Senior Israeli and Syrian officials are scheduled to meet Monday and Tuesday in Washington for talks mediated by US envoy Tom Barrack, i24NEWS has confirmed. This will mark the first such high-level meeting since Syrian Foreign Minister Al-Sharaa’s visit to Washington.
The Israeli delegation will be led by Ambassador Yechiel Leiter and Roman Goffman, along with a senior member of the National Security Council. The Syrian side will be represented by the Syrian Foreign Minister, while US envoy Tom Barrack will attend on behalf of the United States.
Previous i24NEWS reporting has noted that broader Israeli-Syrian negotiations have progressed significantly. Discussions are reportedly focused on security arrangements and coordination, reflecting ongoing diplomatic engagement that precedes this week’s scheduled senior-level talks.
The meetings will cover concrete steps for cooperation and ways to manage ongoing regional tensions. No final agreements are expected at this stage, and outcomes will depend on follow-up consultations after the talks.
The upcoming sessions follow months of diplomatic activity aimed at improving communications between Israel and Syria. Officials emphasize that the talks are exploratory and intended to set frameworks for future dialogue on regional security and cooperation.
It remains unclear how quickly any formal agreements could be reached. Both sides are expected to continue consultations in the coming weeks to evaluate progress and determine the next steps in the diplomatic process.
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Iran’s National Security Council Holds Emergency Meeting Amid Protests Following Trump Threat
Iran’s President Masoud Pezeshkian addresses the 80th United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) at the UN headquarters in New York, US, Sept. 24, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Jeenah Moon
i24 News – On Friday, after US President Donald Trump threatened military action, Iran’s Supreme National Security Council held a late-night emergency meeting to discuss ways to contain nationwide protests with less violence and to prepare for potential strikes, three Iranian officials familiar with government deliberations told The New York Times. The officials requested anonymity due to the sensitive nature of the discussions.
The three sources said senior officials privately acknowledged that the Islamic Republic had been thrust into “survival mode” as protests continued to rage. They added that the government faces limited options to address both economic challenges fueling public unrest and potential conflict with Israel and the United States.
President Masoud Pezeshkian has repeatedly highlighted the severity of the country’s problems, telling the public that he had “no ideas” for solving Iran’s multiple crises, according to the officials.
Last week, Mr. Pezeshkian held two emergency meetings with his economic advisory committee, asking for guidance and written talking points if the crises deepen, two officials familiar with the meetings told the outlet. Some advisers reportedly suggested that the president emphasize Iran’s dual-power structure, noting that key decisions are made by Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.
The emergency sessions come amid rising tensions following Trump’s statements and a struggling economy, which have contributed to escalating protests across the country. Officials are said to be weighing measured approaches to avoid inflaming public anger while maintaining security.
It remains unclear how Iran will respond to the protests in the coming days or whether any military escalation will occur. The government appears focused on monitoring developments and preparing contingency plans as the situation evolves.
Officials emphasized that the discussions are ongoing, and further decisions will depend on how the protests and regional dynamics develop over the next days.
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Trump Warns Venezuelan VP Delcy Rodríguez in Magazine Interview
Venezuela’s Vice-President and Oil Minister Delcy Rodriguez addresses the media in Caracas, Venezuela, March 10, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Leonardo Fernandez Viloria/File Photo
US President Donald Trump on Sunday said Venezuelan Vice President Delcy Rodríguez may pay a bigger price than ousted leader Nicolas Maduro “if she doesn’t do what’s right,” according to an interview with The Atlantic magazine.
Trump initially praised Rodriguez on Saturday after US forces seized Venezuelan leader Nicolas Maduro and his wife from Caracas. Rodriguez said later, however, that her country would defend its natural resources.
“If she doesn’t do what’s right, she is going to pay a very big price, probably bigger than Maduro,” Trump was quoted as saying in the telephone interview held as he arrived at his West Palm Beach golf course in Florida.
The US president defended his decision to take Maduro by force, telling the magazine: “You know, rebuilding there and regime change, anything you want to call it, is better than what you have right now. Can’t get any worse.”
Trump also said other countries may be subject to American intervention. “We do need Greenland, absolutely,” he said of the island that is part of Denmark, a NATO country.