Texts temporary exhibition

Texts temporary exhibition
‘In the shadow of the liberation. Scheveningen prison 45-50’

On 6 May 1945, the first political prisoners are released from the Oranjehotel. A few days later, on 12 May, a new group of prisoners arrives at the prison complex in Scheveningen: eighty-seven police officers. They are suspected of collaboration with the occupier. The former Oranjehotel becomes the ‘Central Detention Centre for Political Prisoners’.

For five years, the complex consisting of the cell barracks, the Penitentiary and the Special Penitentiary is used as a prison for collaborators and supporters of the Nazi regime. During this period, thousands of people are imprisoned here: from convinced Nazi’s and NSB leaders to people who worked for the occupier, served in the German army or were arrested for betrayal.

Overview map

A massive operation
After the war between 120,000 and 180,000 suspects of collaboration are being held in prisons, former concentration camps, schools, barracks, barns, and many other available buildings. More than 260 of those improvised and often overcrowded camps and prisons can be found all over the country. Suspects are often imprisoned for long periods awaiting trial. Over time, costs are rising, and the population is growing impatient or start losing their interest.

No place for traitors
Alongside the exhibition at NM Oranjehotel, National Monument Camp Amersfoort presents the exhibition No place for traitors. Through personal stories, this exhibition tells the complex history of Camp Amersfoort after liberation. It shows that the conditions for detainees in 1945-46 sometimes bore uncomfortable parallels with earlier conditions under the occupier. 

1. From liberation to persecution and retribution

On 5 May 1945, Germany surrenders and the war ends for the Netherlands. What follows is a hectic transitional period. Alongside the joy of liberation, there is also anger among the population. People want to take revenge on collaborators and traitors.

Already during the war, the Dutch government in exile fears unrestrained reckoning by civilians taking the law into their own hands. To prevent this, the Special Jurisdiction is established in 1943: a special legal system that should guarantee a fast and strict prosecution of collaborators after the war.

After the liberation, a wave of arrests ensues. Tens of thousands of people are arrested on suspicion of collaborating with the occupier. A number of them stand trial at Special Courts and separate Tribunals. The line between retribution and revenge tends to be blurred during this period.

The Liberation Days in The Hague
Even though Germany has capitulated, it takes another three days before The Hague is liberated. There are still many German soldiers in the city and in the first chaotic days after the liberation, violence and shootings occur in various places throughout the country. Meanwhile, The Hague has not yet seen a liberator.

However, civilians and members of the Domestic Armed Forces already begin arresting suspects. Only on 8 May 1945, with the official entry of the Princess Irene Brigade and the Allies, is The Hague liberated. Afterwards, the city celebrates for days.

The Netherlands wants revenge

Despite the introduction of the Special Jurisdiction, acts of retaliation cannot be prevented. Collaborators are taken from their homes and are scolded and abused. Women who had relations with Germans are publicly shaved an humiliated.Sometimes innocent people also fall victim to these reprisals. In the rest of the country such acts of revenge take place as well, often carried out by angry civilians.

A time of judgement
In the aftermath of the war, efforts are made to find ways to do justice after a period of unprecedented violence and oppression. In the

Netherlands, the Special Jurisdiction is established. It should both restore the rule of law and allow room for retribution. This proves to be a difficult combination, leading to harsher sentences and the reintroduction of the death penalty.

Some fundamental rights are also temporarily restricted: suspects are held in internment camps without a judicial order, and certain acts (such as membership of the Dutch National Socialist Movement) are made punishable retroactively.

Between 120,000 and 150,000 people suspected of collaboration with the occupying forces end up in camps or prisons. Only 66,000 of them eventually stand trial in a Special Court or Tribunal.
 

The prosecution of NSB leaders and Nazis

On 7 May 1945, amidst loud cheering, members of the Domestic Armed Forces arrest NSB leader Anton Mussert (1894-1946). His arrest is not an isolated event: in the days following the liberation, several other NSB and Nazi leaders are apprehended.

Many Dutch citizens have been looking forward to this moment for years. Hanns Albin Rauter, Meinoud Rost van Tonningen and Robert van Genechten are arrested as well. Like Mussert, they are detained in the Scheveningen prison complex while awaiting their trial.

Anton Mussert
Anton Mussert (1894-1946) is the leader of the Dutch National Socialist Movement (NSB). During the occupation, he collaborates closely with the occupying forces and in 1942 he is named ‘Leader of the Dutch people’.

On 12 December 1945, the Special Court finds de NSB leader guilty of high treason and sentences him to death. Exactly one year after his arrest, Mussert is executed on the Waalsdorpervlakte (a plain in the nearby dunes) on 7 May 1946.

Hanns Albin Rauter
In his role as Höhere SS- und Polizeiführer, Hanns Albin Rauter (1895-1949) has command over all German police and SS units in the Netherlands. Rauter is responsible for many regulations and repressive measures, among them the deportation of Dutch Jews, forced employment of Dutch men and combating the resistance.

After the war, Rauter is arrested in Germany by the Allies. His trial takes place in April 1948 in the Special Court of The Hague. Rauter is sentenced to death and executed on the Waalsdorpervlakte on 25 March 1949.

The Rauter trial
An excerpt from the Dutch Polygoon Journaal, 1948. Hanns Albin Rauter is tried for war crimes at the Special Court in The Hague. SS and police officer Joseph Schreieder (1904-1990), one of the directors of the Oranjehotel, appears as a witness.

Duration: 4:02 min
Source: CricitalPast

Meinoud Rost van Tonningen
NSB politician Meinoud Rost van Tonningen (1894-1945) holds several high-ranking positions during the war. He is known for his outspoken antisemitism. On 8 May 1945, Rost van Tonningen is arrested by the Allies.

After a short time in several internment camps, he is imprisoned in the Scheveningen prison complex on 5 June 1945. The following day Rost van Tonningen commits suicide. After his death, rumours circulate that his death may not have been a suicide.

Robert van Genechten
Robert van Genechten (1895-1945) is a Flemish-Dutch national socialist politician, publisher and collaborator. During the occupation, he serves, among other roles, as attorney general at the Court in The Hague. After a conflict with the occupying forces, he is removed from his posts in 1943.

Shortly after the war, Van Genechten is arrested and incarcerated in the Scheveningen prison. He is sentenced to death on 17 October 1945. Almost two months later, on 13 December 1945, Van Genechten commits suicide in his cell.

Johann (Hans) Schweiger
The command of the Oranjehotel was held the longest bij SS non-comissioned officer Johann (Hans) Schweiger (1910-?). Under his rule, conditions in the prison deteriorate. After the war, Schweiger is accused of serious war crimes. However, he is declared insane, and his case is dropped.

That Schweiger appeared before the Special Court is exceptional. Most guards and directors of the Oranjehotel have already vanished during the occupation and never stand trial.
 

2.  A prison for collaborators

The Scheveningen prison complex has multiple purposes between 1945 and 1950. The prison serves as a central detention centre for (alleged) collaborators and Nazis who have been arrested in and around The Hague. Most of the prisoners are in pre-trial detention or awaiting a transfer to the location where they will serve their sentence.

In addition, convicts can only appeal at the Special Council of Cassation in The Hague. As a result, the Scheveningen prison houses collaborators and war criminals from all over the Netherlands and Germany while awaiting their appeal.

During the five years that the Scheveningen prison complex serves as a detention and residence camp, thousands of political prisoners reside here: from committed National Socialists to people who collaborated with the occupying forces out of opportunism or for financial gain. All of them, to a greater or lesser extent, contributed to the system of repression and persecution established by the Nazi regime.

Quote
“Tragedy for that part of the Dutch population that, because of these delinquents, suffered unspeakably in the brave struggle against the overpowering enemy and that afterwards, bruised, waited for satisfaction. Tragedy for the internees themselves, who, guilty and innocent of every stripe, were, as it were, torn away from their footing, ripe and unripe alike, and wait in uncertainty.”
- T.W. Lignac, July 29 1946

The prison population
The data used on this map are taken from A.D. Belinfante’s In plaats van Bijltjesdag and are based on figures from the Directorate-General for Special Jurisdiction. They largely correspond with our own data from the prison registration books (National Archive) and the archive of prison commander Lignac (NIOD). However, these sources are incomplete: no registries of the cell barracks have been preserved, which means that many of the lighter cases among the prisoners are missing.

6.806*  Voluntary enlistment in foreign military service
3.283  Aiding the enemy
1.344  Betrayal
1.136  Combination of treason and aiding the enemy
   661  Combination of voluntary enlistment in foreign military service and aiding the enemy

* These figures are based on 14,562 convictions under the Special Jurisdiction.

What makes a perpetrator?

Perpetration is a broad concept. In this exhibition, the following definition is used: people who by their actions or conscious collaboration have contributed to a system of persecution, repression and mass murder.

However, there exists no blueprint for perpetration. Perpetrators come in all shapes and sizes. Some plan and give orders, while others carry out, look away or go along. The extent of responsibility varies per person, but all play their part in the system. Motives differ as well: from fanatical conviction and loyalty to opportunism, compliance and social pressure.

Arie*
From mid-1944, Arie works for four months as a watchman for the Germans. He claims his motives are purely financial. Arie and his wife are expecting their first child, and he needs a job.

At his trial, it is acknowledged that Arie is more a victim of his difficult circumstances than an intentional traitor to his country. However, that doesn’t change the fact that he worked for the Germans. Arie is sentenced to 8 months in prison for ‘voluntarily entering into military service with the occupier’.
* For privacy reasons, this exhibition only uses first names for individuals who are not generally known.

Helena
In 1936, Helena joins the NSB, just like her parents. During the war, she holds various jobs in the service of the occupier, including working as a nurse for Anton Mussert’s bodyguards. From 7 July 1945 until 3 September 1946, Helena is imprisoned in the Scheveningen prison awaiting her verdict. During her detention, Helena makes a drawing with a poem, pleading for more understanding for the choices she made. Helena is found guilty of aiding the enemy and of membership of the NSB. However, on 3 September 1946 she is discharged from further prosecution.

Jacobus Breedveld
Jacobus Breedveld (1906-?) is arrested on 7 May 1945 for betraying a Jewish couple in hiding. At the first hearing at the Special Court, he is sentenced to death: the first death sentence in 75 years.
To many Dutch citizens this feels frustrating: Jacobus, a simple milkman, who acted purely out of financial gain, doesn’t fit the image of a fanatical betrayer. In comparison to later cases, his sentence is exceptionally harsh. Later, on cassation appeal, the verdict is changed to twenty years in prison. Breedveld serves his sentence in several prisons.

Tinus Osendarp
Before the war, athlete Tinus Osendarp (1916-2002) is one of the best sprinters in the world. During the occupation, Tinus loses his job and starts working for the police in The Hague. He later joins the NSB and the Dutch SS. Through his work at the photography department of the SD, Tinus becomes involved in the infamous ‘Commando Leemhuis’.

Through his work for this organisation, which hunts down members of the resistance in the region of The Hague, Tinus is involved in the arrests of dozens of people. After the war, he is arrested and locked up in the Scheveningen prison. During his imprisonment, Tinus is severely abused. He is sentenced to 12 years in prison but is already released in 1952.

Tinus Osendarp: the collaborating sprinter
An excerpt from the documentary Tinus Osendarp: the collaborating sprinter, Andere Tijden Sport, 23 July 2024 (NTR).

Duration: 2:16 min
Source: Instituut voor Beeld en Geluid

Lies
In 1941, Lies (1917-2003) joins the NSB out of conviction. She gets a job as a guard in Camp Vught in 1943. Lies works there for a year, after which she is transferred to concentration camp Ravensbrück. On her own request she transfers to the Oranjehotel half a year later. There, she worked as a guard until the end of the war.

After the liberation, Lies herself is locked up in this prison to await her trial. In 1947, she is found guilty of several offences, among them giving aid to the enemy. Lies is sentenced to three years in prison, which she serves in Rotterdam.

‘Ordinary people’
For decades, the question of what makes people into perpetrators of war crimes has been a matter of discussion. In the sixties a growing consensus emerged that they are rarely ‘monsters’. They are often normal people who, under extreme circumstances, make choices that have far-reaching and often violent consequences.

Various scholars, including Hannah Arendt (1906-1975) and later Christopher Browning (1944-), show how serious crimes can be committed by ordinary people. Perpetration often stems from choices, or the absence thereof, and from the moral and social context in which those choices are made. It rarely stems from innate cruelty. Dehumanisation and shifts in morality play a major role in this.
 

3. Life behind bars

During the five years in which the former Oranjehotel serves as a prison for political delinquents, many things change for the prisoners. In the early period, management changes regularly and abuses are common.

In the first year after the war, the prison is overcrowded: it’s not uncommon for five prisoners to share one cell. After the turbulent initial period, order is slowly restored. Life for the inmates becomes more structured with fixed routines of work, roll calls and going out for air. They live separated from society and together with the regular prisoners in the complex. Women stay in a separate section of the former German cell barrack. Many prisoners have to wait a long time for their trial.

From 1950 onwards, no new political delinquents are admitted. Over the course of the 1950s, the last inmates leave the prison.

Abuses in the prison
Shortly after the liberation, serious abuses take place in several detention and residence camps for political detainees. In Scheveningen, too, the situation escalates in May and July 1945 under the regime of Roelof Gritters. Prisoners are abused, humiliated and robbed on a daily basis by Gritters and the guards - members of the military police and the Domestic Armed Forces - who often harbour grudges.

Following press reports about these abuses, inspections of the camp soon take place. As a result, Gritters is fired in late July, and the guards are replaced by professional staff. Afterwards, the situation in the prison gradually calms down.

Quote
“We could hear prisoners being beaten, and the moaning and screaming kept us awake.”
- Quote from a report on the prevailing abuses in the Scheveningen prison complex, 1945

Daily life
The daily routine of the inmates consists of roll calls, work and short moments of going out for air. Once a week, the inmates are allowed to borrow a book from the library. Visits are rare and only once a month they are allowed to write a letter. For the heaviest cases, like Mussert and Rauter, an even stricter regime with fewer liberties is in place.

Female prisoners work in the library, infirmary, sewing room or garden. The men are put to work in the laundry room, the kitchen or in workshops. Some of the men have to exhume the bodies of executed resistance fighters on the Waalsdorpervlakte. A gruesome task that also serves as a form of retribution.

The women’s ward under Lignac
Theodora Lignac (1910-2010) is appointed commander of the women’s ward on 10 May 1945. Initially, the female prisoners are accommodated in a school on Lyceumplein. On 25 May, over 500 women are transferred from there to the Scheveningen prison. The women are accommodated in a barely habitable and only half-finished cell barrack.

Conditions are poor as the ward is filthy and overcrowded with at least three women in every cell. The women also have to endure violence and humiliation under Gritter’s regime. Thanks to Lignac’s commitment and the arrival of a new prison administration, living conditions for the women gradually improve.

Roelof Gritters
During the war, Roelof Gritters (1903-1982) acts mainly out of opportunism and self-interest. He joins the NSB in 1942 and takes up work in Germany. A year later, Gritters is arrested and convicted for embezzling gold, money and other goods. He serves part of his sentence in the Oranjehotel.

After his release, Gritters gets a job as an interpreter for the Canadian Field Security. In the first few months after the liberation, he is put in charge of the Scheveningen Penitentiary. Shortly after his dismissal, Gritters is arrested himself on 13 July 1945, on account of his NSB membership. He is locked up in Kamp Levantkade. In 1947 Gritters appears before the Tribunal in Amsterdam. Through falsified witness statements, he manages to clear his name and is acquitted.

The conflict between Lignac and Gritters
During her time as commander of the women’s ward in the Scheveningen cell barracks, Lignac keeps copious notes of her experiences. In June 1945, she gets into conflict with Gritters. Without permission, he wants to transfer someof the women to the Penitentiary, where late-night parties are held for staff. Lignac refuses firmly. Nevertheless, the women are transferred to the Penitentiary, where they are abused and humiliated. To support them, Lignac makes sure that the women receive daily care from staff of the women’s ward.

4.  Doing justice, then and now

As the last political delinquents leave the Scheveningen prison during the 1950s, this controversial part of history comes to an end. After shorter or longer periods of imprisonment, many prisoners return to society. Yet the past isn’t stored away for good.

For families of collaborators, this history remains a painful chapter. The silence and the shame surrounding it are often traumatic and have longterm consequences. The partial opening of the Central Archive of Special Jurisdiction in 2025 brought this sensitive history back into focus.

In addition, the question of how a society can move forward after periods of conflict and violence, remains highly relevant today. Close to the former Oranjehotel, the International Criminal Court examines crimes like genocide and crimes against humanity. The delicate balance between justice, retribution and forgiveness is still palpable there. It reminds us of an important question: what does it mean to do justice, then and now?

The Central Archive for Special Jurisdiction
‘The Central Archive for Special Jurisdiction’ (CABR) holds 30 million pages of files, making it the Netherlands’ largest war archive. Since 2000, the CABR is managed by the National Archive. The files contain many historically relevant materials: from police reports and court rulings to psychological assessments, witness statements and personal belongings.

The recent partial opening of the archive and the digitisation of its contents have sparked public debate. The CABR contains sensitive and personal information on both perpetrators and victims. On top of that, many criminal files relate to people who were ultimately not convicted. This makes the CABR a complex archive that is difficult to navigate.

The lasting impact of collaboration
After their release, many collaborators return to a society that meets them with suspicion and hostility. Some experience lasting consequences of their past, such as exclusion or difficulties finding work. Others are able to continue their lives unscathed.

Later generations can also carry the burden of a collaborators’ past. For a long time, there is hardly any room for the experiences of second- and third-generation waraffected. It is often not discussed, either within families or in society at large. Feelings of shame and guilt, and sometimes even trauma, continue to have effects on people’s lives to this day.

Quotes

“ […] I started crying and said that I was dreading the opening of the CABR archives. The doctor said that this may be the reason I feel so stressed and keep breathing too shallowly. That still happens a lot.”
- ‘Sounds from the silence’, September 2024

“My parents’ wartime past limits my social life. I don’t have any friends. I do have acquaintances, but no friends.”
- ‘Sounds from the silence’, September 2024

In search of history
In recent years, the taboo on this subject has increasingly been broken, and there is more room for the experiences of children and grandchildren of collaborators. They tell their stories in books, documentaries, exhibitions, and podcasts. People with similar experiences can also find support with one another through an organisation such as Stichting Werkgroep Herkenning.

DO YOUR RESEARCH AND TALK ABOUT IT!
Do you have questions about a family member’s role during the war? Take charge and start your own research. You can contact a Regional Archive or the National Archives in The Hague.

RECOGNITION WORKING GROUP FOUNDATION
This advocacy group for descendants of wartime collaborators, will help you with your research. This foundation also organises support groups for peers.

CONTACT POINT FOR POST-WAR GENERATIONS
This contact point of ARQ Psychotrauma Center helps you find the right support, such as relevant archives, therapist lists, peer support, or more specialised care.

Podcast ‘Bad Blood’
In the four-part podcast ‘Fout Bloed’ (‘Bad Blood’) (2025), a KamerFilm production, podcast creator Marijke Meems takes the listener on a journey to discover her grandmother's wartime past. In doing so, she explores how trauma can be passed down through multiple generations.

Excerpt from episode 4 ‘The Soup bowl (with a heart)’
Duration: 4:20 min

The International Criminal Court
Today, less than a kilometre from the National Monument Oranjehotel, the International Criminal Court is handling charges against suspects accused of crimes against humanity. Like the Special Jurisdiction, this court faces the same fundamental questions: how do you administer justice after war and conflict? And what does it mean to 'do justice' in this context?

The Criminal Court shows that there is no single clear answer to these questions. Political pressure, limited resources and varying international support illustrate that prosecuting perpetrators, then as well as now, is never without shortcomings.

Timeline
1943 - The Dutch government-in-exile establishes the Special Jurisdiction.
5 May 1945 - Germany surrenders.
6 May 1945 - First group of prisoners is released from the Oranjehotel.
8 May 1945 - Military Authority takes over the Scheveningen prison comlex as a detention and residence camp.
10 May 1945 - First group of political delinquents arrives at the prison.
23 May 1945 - Roelof Gritters is put in charge of the penitentiary.
25 May 1945 - 500 women are housed in the cell barracks, with Theodora Lignac as commander.
4 June 1945 - First inspection report by provincial inspector.
15 July 1945 - Penitentiary is formally placed under Military Authority.
21 August 1945 - First day sitting of the Special Court in The Hague.
1 November 1945 - Directorate-General for Special Jurisdiction is established.
20 November 1945 - First sitting of the Nuremberg Tribunal
7 May 1946 - Mussert is executed at the Waalsdorpervlakte.
5 October 1946 - First commemoration and inauguration of Cell 601 in the former Oranjehotel.
1 March 1947 - The women’s cell barracks is closed.
1 January 1949 - Directorate-General for Special Jurisdiction is dissolved.
15 January 1950 - Cell barracks become a House of Detention.