Archive

Since its foundation in May 1945, NIOD has called on the Dutch public to hold on to all documents about the German occupation and donate them to NIOD. Many people did. After the liberation, many documents have been donated to the Institute. These were often of a personal nature, such as diaries and letters. In addition, NIOD houses the archives of the German administration in the Netherlands, departments in The Hague and London, resistance groups, Jewish and National Socialist organisations, and prison camps in both Europe and Asia.

NIOD’s archives have been made accessible by means of finding aids and location lists. You can search NIOD’s archives in two ways:

You can search the archives, collections, and diaries by entering random search terms.

In the archive overview, the archives and collections are categorised by subject:

• ​Institutions and persons in the Netherlands 1930-1945
• ​Institutions and persons outside the Netherlands 1930-1945
• ​Institutions and persons after the liberation
• ​Archives and collections resulting from NIOD’s activities

Please note: in the past, NIOD’s archives could only be accessed by the Institute’s staff members. As a result, the finding aids may be hard to understand. NIOD aims to increase the archive collection’s accessibility over the coming years.

In the finding aids of our archive collections, the conditions for access to a particular archive are listed under the heading ‘Access’. Large parts of the archive collection are freely accessible. Some archives are subject to conditions for access, for example to protect the privacy of living people. If this is the case, we will ask you to fill out an Archive Consultation Form or ask the director of NIOD for written permission for consultation.

See also Frequently Asked Questions: Are all collections freely accessible? 

If you have questions during your visit, please contact the reading room staff.

A few of NIOD’s archives are fully digitised. See Frequently Asked Questions: Which NIOD archives have already been digitised?

NIOD frequently receives donations of new archive materials. Before these documents can be consulted, the archive must first be made accessible. As a result, the documents will be temporarily unavailable.

Are you considering donating archive materials to NIOD? Read more about that on the page ‘Donating archive materials’.