Dutch National Archive uses AI to make its largest WWII archive digitally searchable

Overview

The Nationaal Archief, Netwerk Oorlogsbronnen, Huygens Instituut and NIOD Instituut are digitizing the Centraal Archief Bijzondere Rechtspleging (CABR), the largest and most-consulted Dutch WWII archive with dossiers on roughly 300,000 people, and using artificial intelligence to make the digitized documents readable and searchable. The first digital results go online via Oorlogvoorderechter.nl from 2025, with the project running until 2027.

The challenge

The Centraal Archief Bijzondere Rechtspleging (CABR), the largest and most-consulted Dutch WWII archive with dossiers on roughly 300,000 people suspected of collaboration with the Germans, needed to be made digitally accessible to a broad public, with the archive spanning nearly four kilometers of documents including witness statements, NSB membership cards, diaries, pardon requests and photos.

The solution

The Nationaal Archief, Netwerk Oorlogsbronnen, Huygens Instituut and NIOD Instituut voor Oorlogs-, Holocaust- en Genocidestudies are digitizing the CABR through the project Oorlog voor de Rechter, using artificial intelligence to make the digitized archive documents readable and searchable. To help understand and contextualize the documents, they are enriched with background information and cross-references to related sources from other collections. Privacy (AVG/GDPR) rules are taken into account, meaning not all documents may be made available online.

Reported business value

The digitization is expected to average 152,000 scans per week. The first digital results will be presented via Oorlogvoorderechter.nl from 2025, with the project running until 2027. The ability to search across the CABR will give new insights into events of the Second World War from diverse perspectives.