oa De administratieve verhulling van het lot van vervolgden tijdens de Endlösung

The administrative concealment of the fate of the persecuted Jews in the Netherlands

The National Socialist regime abused the existing bureaucracy to register, disenfranchise, and destroy its ideological opponents. The secrecy of this operation concealed the real fate of Jews and political opponents. This article analyses from the victim data perspective the role of those agencies in the occupied Netherlands that processed the personal data of Jews. The method of processing, i.e. registering, concealing, destroying, or deregistering personal data, shows how accurately and willingly each agency carried out its role. A bureaucratic paradox arose because the personal data, which were recorded by order of the occupier, later had to be destroyed or concealed. This article describes how the municipalities, the State Inspectorate of Population Registers, and the Jewish Council administratively supported anti-Jewish measures. How they conducted themselves in relation to the German occupier reveals their level of cooperation with anti-Jewish measures.