The National Collection of War Diaries encompasses the collections of 20 institutes and includes egodocuments from the Netherlands and the former Netherlands East Indies.  Besides Anne Frank, many other Dutch men and women kept a diary: housewives, mayors, shopkeepers, doctors, National Socialists. Combined, these authentic documents convey an impressive picture of life during wartime.

After the war, the RIOD (Rijksinstituut voor Oorlogsdocumentatie - National Institute for War Documentation), now known as NIOD (Instute for War, Holocaust and Genocide Studies), quickly realized just how valuable diaries would be with a view to future research. By the end of 1945, the RIOD appealed to the population to submit egodocuments to the institute. A large part of the digitized diaries therefore originates from the NIOD’s own collection. Nevertheless, as time went by, many diaries ended up in other archives, museums, and libraries.

Hundreds of these diaries are on view on the site of The Memory.

Joint venture
This national collection of War Diaries is the result of a joint venture between the Koninklijke Bibliotheek, the NIod Institute for War, Holcaust and Genocide Studies and several other instutions.