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Tag: holocaust

  • CABR Files Now Searchable – But Still Only Viewable Onsite in The Hague

    CABR Files Now Searchable – But Still Only Viewable Onsite in The Hague

    Important news for anyone researching Dutch wartime history: the Central Archives for Special Criminal Jurisdiction (CABR) are now digitally searchable through the Nationaal Archief’s online catalogue. While the complete files themselves remain accessible only onsite in The Hague, this new searchable index opens up major possibilities for genealogists, historians, and descendants seeking answers about World War II and its aftermath.

    I first wrote about accessing the CABR files onsite in 2020. These archives contain process dossiers relating to investigations and prosecutions of approximately 300,000 individuals suspected of collaboration with Nazi Germany during the occupation. However, the CABR files also hold much broader information.

    What Does the CABR Contain?

    The CABR dossiers include not only data on investigated persons but also information about (Jewish) victims, members of the resistance, and wartime events. Previously, this information was difficult to locate because the archive was organised only by the names of those investigated. As a result, references to victims or other parties appeared only inside dossiers indexed under others’ names.

    Now that the CABR is fully digitally searchable, descendants of war victims and investigated individuals alike can discover:

    • What happened to family members who were betrayed or otherwise affected during the war?
    • Additional details about their ancestor’s involvement or mentions in multiple dossiers.
    • Broader historical context, from resistance activities to the consequences of collaboration.

    How Is the CABR Organised?

    According to the Nationaal Archief’s detailed search help page:

    • The CABR archive comprises case files (‘strafdossiers’) from the postwar Bijzondere Rechtspleging (Special Jurisdiction), which prosecuted suspected collaborators between 1945 and the early 1950s.
    • Each dossier focuses on an individual case but may reference numerous other persons and events.
    • The files include depositions, verdicts, correspondence, and related documents.
    • Indexing was historically done by the name of the suspect or investigated person only, not by the names of victims or witnesses.

    What Has Changed?

    Thanks to a recent digitisation and metadata project:

    • The Nationaal Archief’s online catalogue now allows searching by person’s name, including names of suspects, victims, resistance members, and others mentioned.
    • This search determines whether a dossier exists associated with a given name.
    • However, the full CABR files remain physically available only at the Nationaal Archief’s reading room in The Hague, accessible through five designated computers.
    • Digital copies of files cannot be downloaded or viewed remotely at this time due to privacy and sensitivity concerns.

    Practical Tips for Researchers

    • Search the online catalogue first: Before visiting, check whether your person of interest appears in the CABR index.
    • Plan your visit: Since file consultation is onsite-only and computer access is limited, scheduling ahead is recommended.
    • Respect privacy restrictions: Some files are subject to confidentiality or legal restrictions, meaning access may be limited or delayed.
    • Use the search aid: The Nationaal Archief provides guides and help pages to assist with searching and interpreting results — see CABR Zoekhulp.

    Sensitivity and Context

    CABR files reveal difficult truths. Being named in a dossier doesn’t automatically mean guilt; many were acquitted or wrongly accused. Some files involve painful family or community conflicts.

    Approach these documents with care and historical understanding.

    Summary

    • CABR dossiers cover suspects, victims, resistance members, and wartime events.
    • Search names online via the Nationaal Archief catalogue.
    • Full files are only accessible onsite at the Nationaal Archief in The Hague (5 computers available).
    • Consult the official search aids and plan visits carefully.
    • Handle findings with sensitivity and respect for complex histories.

    This enhanced accessibility is a major step for Dutch and international genealogical research, opening new doors to understanding family histories affected by the war.

    If you want help navigating the CABR or interpreting what you find, feel free to contact me.

    🌐 Nationaal Archief CABR Announcement (2025):
    https://www.nationaalarchief.nl/onderzoeken/nieuws/het-cabr-digitaal-doorzoeken-in-het-nationaal-archief

    🔍 Search CABR Dossiers in the Online Catalogue:
    https://oorlogvoorderechter.nl/

    📘 CABR Search Aid (Zoekhulp):
    https://www.nationaalarchief.nl/onderzoeken/zoekhulpen/centraal-archief-bijzondere-rechtspleging-cabr

    📝 My earlier blog post on the CABR (2020):
    https://www.gershon-lehrer.be/blog/2020/03/02/cabr-files-in-hague/

    illustrative

  • Expulsion Orders from WWII at the FelixArchief – Part 2: Researching The Inventory

    Please read first the introduction and the explanation about this table in my other article, see: Expulsion Orders from WWII at the FelixArchief – Part 1: An Introduction

    Instructions when using the table: While you type in letters in the search box below, the table will start showing you the results based on your text (caution: it can possibly slow down your web browser while this page loads due to the considerable size of the inventory table).

    [table “27” not found /]

  • Expulsion Orders from WWII at the FelixArchief – Part 1: An Introduction

    Note: Mr. Dratwa (conservator of the Jewish Museum in Belgium) noted that I should’ve translated ‘Uitwijzingsbevel’ to ‘Expulsion Order’ and not ‘Deportation Order’ (which usually is used when someone was deported to concentration camps). I corrected the wording based on his advice.

    Introduction:
    The FelixArchief (Antwerp City Archives) published on their website on June 25, 2012 information about a collection of the ‘Expulsion Orders’ which were issued during WWII between December 1940 and February 1941by the immigration police on behalf of the German occupying authorities . More than 3,000 Jewish immigrants  were transferred at the order of the German army from Antwerp to a rural area in the Belgian province of Limburg. Copies of these expulsion orders are available on microfilm at the Antwerp Archives.

    History:
    In November 1940 the Germans ordered to compile lists of foreigners who were older than 15, were staying in the Antwerp District and had the following nationalities: Englishmen, Norwegians, Poles, French, Dutch and stateless citizens since 1 January 1937. Likewise they wanted to have on these lists the stateless who had settled since 1 January 1933 and all Czechs who had immigrated to Belgium from Czechoslovakia. Former members of the Foreign Legion (Vreemdelingenlegioen), Gypsies and Jews had to be registered separately.

    By mid-December the Feldkommandantur decided to expel the majority of foreigners of the Antwerp district who had been registered in November. That decision was supposedly based on the regulation of 12 November which indicated that Kommandanturen of the provinces of East Flanders and West Flanders as well as of the Antwerp district were empowered to impose on “certain persons” a “residence restriction”. The Antwerp police received a list of 7,328 people. In reality the list concerned mainly, if not only, Jews. Governor Jan Grauls had the “expulsion orders” delivered to the councils of the district of Antwerp and the orders were signed by the mayors and the local city seal was attached.

    Copy of regulation of 12 November which indicated that Kommandanturen of the provinces of East Flanders and West Flanders as well as of the Antwerp district were empowered to impose on “certain persons” a “residence restriction” (Source: http://pallas.cegesoma.be/pls/opac/plsp.getplsdoc?rn=153781&cn=217344&sn=0&lan=F&htdoc=general/viewdocs.htm)

    On December 18, 1940 the Antwerp police distributed the first 608 expulsion orders: it was stated that the persons concerned, under threat of criminal sanctions, had to report on a certain day and hour (usually at eight o’clock in the morning) at the Antwerp-South Station which was located at the Simon-Bolivarplaats. The expulsed people had, besides the required papers ,to take food for three days with them. The luggage was limited to a maximum of 25 kg per adult. According to the orders, other belongings could be left with acquaintances in the current place of residence to be forwarded at a later time, in compliance with operating procedures of the public traffic. The orders also stated that it was “permitted” to take the children under the age of 15 years to the new place of residence , if they were part of the household.

    Between 21 December 1940 and 12 February 1941 3,401 Jews were expelled with 14 trains from Antwerp on the orders of the Germans to 43 municipalities in the province of Limburg (note: Other numbers of expelled Jews which are mentioned in Brachfeld’s study are 3,284 Jews who were expelled between 12 November 1940 until 27 March 1941 or according to another source, also mentioned in Brachfeld’s study, 3,273 Jews were expelled).

    Since many people had left their homes without informing the authorities only part of the  initial list with 7,328 people were expelled to Limburg. Additionally, regulations stated that sick people who had a certificate from a doctor could only be exempted from expulsion if the certificate clearly stated that these people were not “transportable”.

    Several dozen of these expelled Jews were employed in a labor camp in the municipality of Overpelt. The Germans forced them to cultivate the moorland of ‘het Holven’ as forced laborers. In the summer of 1941 the Jews left the camp after which the work was continued by (non-Jewish) workers from the area.

    196 other Jews were expelled to Beverlo and arrived there on 1 February 1941. A few weeks later another family of 3 persons joined the group. Everyone was housed by the municipal government in unoccupied homes of the miners in the Louis-Sauvestrelaan and the Leysestraat. These two streets were part of the site around the coal mine of Beringen. The mayor and aldermen were responsible for these people. The Jews received from them advice on household goods, unemployed support and food (ration coupons). The Jews themselves had one duty to be accounted for: they had to present themselves daily in the town hall (presence control), for the rest they were allowed free movement in Beverlo as long as the territory of the municipality was not trespassed. The latter was only possible with written consent of the occupier.

    Starting from March 1941, the Jews who were expelled to Limburg were forced to to settle in Brussels, Liège or Charleroi. Only the women were allowed to settle in Antwerp. These Jews later met the same fate as the other Jews in their places of residence of whom a lot were later deported via Mechelen/Malines to the East.

    The copies of the expulsion orders at the Antwerp Archives:
    The FelixArchief has recently released the collection with expulsion orders to the public in a digitzed format which was done with the assistance of the “Yad Vashem – The Holocaust martyr’s and heroes remembrance authority”. You can check these ‘Expulsion Orders’ with the microfilm readers at the FelixArchief. There is also an inventory of the ‘Expulsion Orders’ on the website of the FelixArchief (see: http://zoeken.felixarchief.be/zHome/Home.aspx?id_isad=317258) or you can get the inventory here on my website, see: Expulsion Orders from WWII at the FelixArchief – Part 2: Researching The Inventory (caution: it can take sometime to load due to the considerable size of the inventory list). If you want to get the list via the website of the FelixArchief, you will need to be signed-in (see for instructions my other article: “How to subscribe to the online services of the Antwerp Archives).
    It is my intention in this article to explain how to use the inventory list and how to get copies of the ‘Expulsion Order’s of your relatives.

    Getting copies of the ‘Expulsion Orders’:
    First you obviously need to get the table with the inventory from the website of the Antwerp Archives or from my website which you can get both get via the links I mentioned in the introduction. Then when you have the table with the inventory you’ll need to find the name of the person you were looking for. Then when and if you have the name, you need first to check the ‘Inventarisnummer’ (translation: Inventory number) which is the number in the first column. For my great-grandfather (Gerschon Lehrer)’s entry that would be MA#23413 as can be seen in the next screenshot:

    (In red is my great-grandfather, his Inventory number is MA#23413, note that the names in the blue boxes, which are from my grandfather and his brother, do have the same inventory number, the filenumbers (in column F) are indeed close to each other. You can also find the alien file number in the 7th column (column G), this is indeed a way to find an alien file number. Read my other articles for more on the Antwerp immigrants files).

    Now open in your webbrowser the following (more…)

  • Transportation lists of the transports which left from Mechelen/Malines during the holocaust

    Update (15 March 2016): I have come across a list on the website of the German ´Das Bundesarchiv´´s Memorial Book (see: www.bundesarchiv.de/gedenkbuch/chronicles.html.en?page=2).  I have merged their information (mainly the number of deported persons) with the information I have had before (on the website of ´Das Bundesarchiv´, you´ll find similar lists for The Netherlands and France).

    I recently asked for a list of all transports which left the Mechelen/Malines kazerne (barracks) (Mechelen is the Dutch variant and Malines is the French variant of the name of the Flemish city which is about 25 kilometers south from Antwerp) during holocaust.

    I wanted the overview so that I could place the names I received on some lists in the right context.

    As I assume that there might be more out there with an interest in the list, I am publishing it here.

    One transport to note is transport XX. Transport XX was attacked between Boortmeerbeek and Haacht (which is about 15km from Mechelen) by brave Belgians and thanks to these Belgians (Jean Franklemon, Georges Livschitz and Robert Maistriau) 231 deportees out of 1631 succeeded to escape the train. Out of the 231 escapees, 26 people died during the action which happened on 19 april 1943. You can read more about this episode on the following website: http://users.telenet.be/holocaust.bmb/.

    Please note that you can find more about the list and transports in the following publications:

    For more about the museum visit their website at http://www.kazernedossin.be where you can read the following introduction:

    Of these 25,835 people, 576 escaped during the journey. 24,019 of the remainder would die: they were either gassed in Birkenau or died in the slave labour camp of Auschwitz or during the subsequent death march. Just 1,240 deportees – or less than 5% – returned to Belgium in May 1945. 32 Gypsies were among the survivors.
    When war broke out, the Jewish population represented approximately 1% of the Belgian population. At the end of the war in 1945, 50% of all civilian casualties were Jewish.
    The transportation of over 25,000 Jews and Gypsies was a German crime, carried out by the Nazis. However, their plan could not succeed without the cooperation of:

    • the Belgian civil service that, as a whole, principally accepted the persecution of the Jews and within the framework of the law, cooperated with the occupier
    • Belgian collaborating paramilitary parties and organisations who would present themselves as Jew hunters

    This cooperation strongly contributed to the end result: a death toll of 44% of Jews. With this, the figures of the ‘Final Solution’ in Belgium lie between those of France (25%) and the Netherlands (80%).

    Here is the list with the transportations:
    (more…)