ABSTRACT
This chapter considers whether and how an archive can act as a narrator. It argues that the archive of the Dutch Custody Institute (NBI), one of the most complex war archives held in the Netherlands, narrates multiple, multi-levelled stories of war.
The histories of German enemy citizens in the Netherlands have received little attention from historians, and have long been separated from the historiography on World War II. The only source that can provide insight into the experiences of this cohort is the extensive but little-researched NBI archive. Its shelf-kilometres of reports, minutes and policy documents reflect how the Dutch administration of justice took shape. Research into the NBI archive helps to illustrate the construction of war narratives, on both the institutional and the individual levels. But if we read not only along, but also against the archival grain, another narrative takes shape. The notes in the margins show how the employees of the NBI tried to establish or restore order, draft legislation and formulate criteria. The archive must thus not only be studied as a store for documents to construct war narratives, but also as an object in itself, with its own narrative of war.
