Dutch library allowed to place Nazi newspapers online.

[leo-rcc]

Good news.

The National Library of the Netherlands is allowed to include Nazi newspapers dating from the Second World War in its internet archive. The library says it is important “to make historical reality available to everyone in uncensored form”, and to aid scholarly research. The move is controversial due to concerns that the publication of the Dutch National Socialist Movement (NSB) newspapers could be offensive to relatives of war victims and might actually be illegal under Dutch law. The Dutch minister of Justice has now ruled that these newspapers are allowed to be placed online, but requests that research is done to prevent downloads of the newspapers.

The National Library began compiling its digital newspaper archive in spring this year. Every Dutch national, regional, local and colonial newspaper from the past 400 years is to be made freely available on the internet.

The entire archive can be found here: http://kranten.kb.nl/

[Trolldor]

Goddamnit.

[Pappa]

Cool.

I remember my history teacher telling us about these Nazi murals that had recently been uncovered (in about 1995)... Nazi glorification type stuff. He said they should be torn down and destroyed. I was completely shocked. No matter if there are a few nutters who will almost worship them nowadays.... more than anyone a history teacher should know that to learn from the mistakes of the past we have to actually know about them first. Plus, the murals were fascinating as a historical and artistic artifact. I hate that people get accused of being anti-Semitic or neo-Nazi for suggesting Nazi history and artefacts have value (or Nazi design was good, etc.).

Everyone should have access to these newspapers, it's an incredible chance to understand one of the most aberrant points in recent history.

[Trolldor]

Precisely. To hide or destroy the past is an insult to those who were victims of it, and those who survived it.