| The first of July, 2006 marks the beginning of a joint project between the Netherlands Institute for War Documentation (NIOD) and the Institute for Netherlands History (ING), the goal of which is to compile an overview of all the archives that focus on Dutch citizens who suffered as a result of the German and Japanese occupation.The issue of how to take care of those affected by the war was even being considered at the time of occupation itself. After the liberation, the foundations were laid for a legal system that would provide financial support to victims of the Second World War in the Netherlands and the Dutch East Indies. New government agencies were set up to deal with applications for pensions awarded for resistance activities or benefits for victims of persecution and civil war, while other organisations were established to handle medical care, social work and restoring claims to rights. Prisoners-of-war who returned home also set up their own interest groups. Mapping out the archives All organisations, small or large, amass archives. The organisations that dealt with war victims did this too, and continue to do so. During the next few years, many of these organisations will either become defunct or will transfer their activities to other organisations. Experience has shown that archives are often forgotten in these circumstances. This must be prevented from happening.The NIOD and the ING plan to make an overview of all the archives and collections specialising in social welfare, damages, claims to restore rights, and honouring the memory of the victims of both the German and the Japanese occupation during the period 1942-2000. This will result in a website with an online guide for research purposes. |
