Records that became public in 2021

Happy New Year everybody! Many records become public after 25, 50, 75, or 100 years. Here is an overview of some of the records that became public as of 1 January 2021. Exceptions may exist for records that involve people that could still be alive.

Civil registration records:

  • Birth records from 1920
  • Marriage records from 1945
  • Death records from 1970

Legal records:

  • Court records from 1945
  • Police records from 1945

National government records:

  • Minutes of the council of ministers, 1995. This includes the discussions about the Dutch role in Srebrenica, the response to the Turkish actions against Kurds in Northern Iraq, and whether the Netherlands should issue a formal apology to Indonesia for the violence in the year 1945-1949.
  • Department of Justice, police division, which includes reports about concentration and extermination camps, the Putten razzia of 1 October 1944, and the prosecution of Jews in the Netherlands.
  • Records of soldiers who served in the Dutch East Indies Army during and after World War II and during the decolonization.

Available at the National Archives in The Hague.

Because archives are currently closed because of a national lockdown, most of these records cannot be accessed right away.

Liberation of Camp Amersfoort, 1945. Credits: Willem van de Poll, collection Nationaal Archief (public domain).

About Yvette Hoitink

Yvette Hoitink, MLitt, CG®, QG™ is a professional genealogist, writer, and lecturer in the Netherlands. She has a Master of Letters in Family and Local History from the University of Dundee, and holds the Certification of Genealogist and Qualified Genealogist credentials. Yvette served on the Board of Directors of the Association of Professional Genealogists and won excellence awards for her articles in the National Genealogical Society Quarterly and the Association of Professional Genealogists Quarterly. Yvette has been doing genealogy for over 30 years. She helps people from across the world find their ancestors from the Netherlands and its former colonies, including New Netherland. Read about Yvette's professional genealogy services.

Comments

  1. Judith C Smolk says

    Hi Yvette: I am originally from Clymer, New York, USA. I have been researching five of the stories on your Clymer website page, regarding the difficult journeys the immigrants took to reach Clymer. Garrett Kolstee kept a detailed diary of his trip, starting in Arnhem on a steamboat.. Do you know how he would have travelled from Winsterswyk to Arnhem? Was there a canal? Would he have hired a wagon and team of some sort? The year was 1848.Thanks so much for any help or direction you can give me.
    Sincerely, Judy Smolk

  2. Enyth Dyann Carson says

    Hello Yvette,
    I am wondering if you can help me find out the meaning or origin of the surname Preacely? My grandfather told me that it was Dutch.

    Thank you,
    Enyth Dyann Preacely-Carson

    • That does not sound like any Dutch name I have ever heard. It could be an anglicized version of a Dutch name but I have no idea what that might be. I recommend you trace your line back to the immigrant and see what the original records say.

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