US embassy cable - 04THEHAGUE825

UNCLAS THE HAGUE 000825 
 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: KAWC, PREL, AORC, ICJ, USUN 
SUBJECT: ICJ - PRESERVATION OF NUREMBURG TRIAL ARCHIVES 
 
1. (U)  Summary. The Archives of the Nuremburg International 
Military Tribunal (NIMT) in the custody of the International 
Court of Justice (ICJ) are facing two preservation threats. 
First, the obsolete nature of the equipment on which the 
proceedings were recorded risks this material becoming 
inaccessable. More seriously, the paper documents are in 
danger of further deteroriation due to inadequate storage 
facilities. These assessments were conveyed in a letter from 
the ICJ to the Assistant Secretaty-General of the Office of 
Legal Affairs of the United Nations on 10 March 2004.  This 
letter, copied to the Ambassador and represenatives of the 
other four WWII allied powers, requests financing for the 
costs of the treatment, restoration and scanning of paper 
documents and of the digitalisation of metal discs from the 
Archives of the Nuremberg International Military Tribunal. 
End Summary. 
 
2. (U) The ICJ letter notes that the preservation of the 
paper documents included in the NIMT archives should be 
considered a priority.  It includes an assessment sent to the 
ICJ on April 3, 2003, by the national Archives of the 
Netherlands which estimated the cost of restoring and 
properly storing the the NIMT paper documents at 168,700 
euros.  The Dutch assessment concluded that after random 
sampling of the archives it was apparent that there are two 
reasons for the poor condition of the paper.  First, the 
quality of the paper is poor and has a tendency to degrade 
rapidly.  Second, the archive is kept in "closed iron safety 
cases" in "office" conditions that include "direct sunlight 
and no climate control".  As a result, the paper is giving 
off emissions and making the "safety" boxes, in fact, a very 
unstable place for the documents to be contained.  The Dutch 
experts assess that 91% of the NICT archive will need proper 
long-term conservation treatment, including thorough cleaning 
of the documents and removal to a new, more appropriate, 
storage facility.  The Dutch also propose to digitally scan 
the documents so that they would be more easily accessible to 
those who would like to view them. 
 
3. (U) The letter includes a second assessment sent by the 
Dutch Institute for Images and Sound to the ICJ on 24 
February 2004 regarding the digitalization of the information 
on the 1,942 metal discs. This assessment concludes that 
although the metal discs which contain what we understand to 
be the audio recording of the NIMT oral proceedings will 
"remain in good condition for the next ten years" the 
"contents will soon be inaccessible" due to the fact that 
turntables that can be used to play the discs are rare and 
are considered "obsolete equipment".  The assessment advises 
that the discs be transferred to a digital medium "in order 
to preserve the contents of these discs for prosperity"  The 
Dutch Institute for Images and Sound estimates it will take 
approximately five years to complete the project at a cost of 
Euro 200,000.  They have also noted that the Institute will 
be opening a new building in 2005 which will include 
air-conditioned warehouses that could store the NIMT archives 
for a "symbolic price". 
 
4. (U) Embassy requests consideration by the Department of 
any funding the USG could contribute to this worthwhile 
project.  The ICJ letter and attached assessments have been 
faxed to L/UNA and S/WCI. 
SOBEL