This study is based on research which I conducted in the Netherlands in 1948 and 1949. In addition, I was able to rely on experiences and impressions of the 1944-1946 period, when I was stationed in the Low Countries as a United States Army Military Intelligence Officer. In my description of Dutch purge measures I have attempte~ to be as unbiased a judge as possible; whenever I was unable to arrive at a definite conclusion I con tented myself with describing the opposing points of view. I am quite aware that this attitude of "neutrality" may be criticized, not only by many ex-Resistance men who have become dis gusted with the alleged softness of the purge, but also by many others who appear equally dismayed about its severity. For purposes of comparison, readers who are familiar with action against collaborators in other countries - such as France, Italy, or the Balkans - may note that the Dutch purge was not dominated by considerations of party politics. All Dutchme- employers and workers, Protestants and Catholics, Conservatives and Socialists - had been united in their resistance against the enemy. Consequently, disagreements about purge measures did not follow class, religious, or party lines. The few Dutch Commu nists had never been able to dominate the Resistance; neither were they able to exploit the purge for their purposes. Thus, in Holland problems of collaboration and purge could be studied in their purest form, without consideration of other factors.

At the century's end, societies all over the world are throwing off the yoke of authoritarian rule and beginning to build democracies. At any such time of radical change, the question arises: should a society punish its ancien regime or let bygones be bygones? Transitional Justice takes this question to a new level with an interdisciplinary approach that challenges the very terms of the contemporary debate. Ruti Teitel explores the recurring dilemma of how regimes should respond to evil rule, arguing against the prevailing view favoring punishment, yet contending that the law nevertheless plays a profound role in periods of radical change. Pursuing a comparative and historical approach, she presents a compelling analysis of constitutional, legislative, and administrative responses to injustice following political upheaval. She proposes a new normative conception of justice--one that is highly politicized--offering glimmerings of the rule of law that, in her view, have become symbols of liberal transition. Its challenge to the prevailing assumptions about transitional periods makes this timely and provocative book essential reading for policymakers and scholars of revolution and new democracies.

This is the first systematic pan-European study of the hundreds of thousands of non-Germans who fought - either voluntarily or under different kinds of pressures - for the Waffen-SS (or auxiliary police formations operating in the occupied East). Building on the findings of regional studies by other scholars - many of them included in this volume - The Waffen-SS aims to arrive at a fuller picture of those non-German citizens (from Eastern as well as Western Europe) who served under the SS flag. Where did the non-Germans in the SS come from (socially, geographically, and culturally)? What motivated them? What do we know about the practicalities of international collaboration in war and genocide, in terms of everyday life, language, and ideological training? Did a common transnational identity emerge as a result of shared ideological convictions or experiences of extreme violence? In order to address these questions (and others), The Waffen-SS adopts an approach that does justice to the complexity of the subject, adding a more nuanced, empirically sound understanding of collaboration in Europe during World War II, while also seeking to push the methodological boundaries of the historiographical genre of perpetrator studies by adopting a transnational approach.

The controversial and still sensitive story of the Nazi collaborators of occupied Europe -- what they did, why they did it, and the consequences of their actions for millions of their fellow citizens.

It's a story that made Dutch painter Han van Meegeren famous worldwide when it broke at the end of World War II: A lifetime of disappointment drove him to forge Vermeers, one of which he sold to Hermann Goering in mockery of the Nazis. And it's a story that's been believed ever since. Too bad it isn't true. Jonathan Lopez has drawn on never-before-seen documents from dozens of archives to write a revelatory new biography of the world's most famous forger. Neither unappreciated artist nor antifascist hero, Van Meegeren emerges as an ingenious, dyed-in-the-wool crook--a talented Mr. Ripley armed with a paintbrush. Lopez explores a network of illicit commerce that operated across Europe: Not only was Van Meegeren a key player in that high-stakes game in the 1920s and '30s, landing fakes with famous collectors such as Andrew Mellon, but he and his associates later cashed in on the Nazi occupation. The Man Who Made Vermeers is a long-overdue unvarnishing of Van Meegeren's legend and a deliciously detailed story of deceit in the art world.