Ratio Koster Papers
CPN (Communist Party of the Netherlands) member Ratio Koster was arrested in 1947 for the dissemination of leaflets, which protested against Dutch troops being sent to Dutch East Indies, while doing his military service. He was initially sentenced to three years in prison. The CPN organised a campaign of support. After eighteen months, he was acquitted. The new additions to the archive consist of the correspondence between Ratio and his parents and many letters from his sympathisers. Brief description

Collection Dutch Participants in the International Brigades during the Spanish Civil War
All kinds of material have been collected for this collection on Dutch participation in the Spanish Civil War. The IISG recently acquired a dozen letters from Fanny Schoonheyt to her friend Neeltje Bakker. Schoonheyt fought among the ranks of the Partit Socialista Unificat de Catalunya and ended up in a hospital in Barcelona where she was interviewed by a Spanish journalist. This interview was also republished by G. Nypels in the Algemeen Handelsblad on 29th August 1936. Brief description.

Collection Red Army Faction in The Netherlands
Autumn 2007 saw the publication of historian Jacco Pekelder's book Sympathie voor de RAF. De Rote Armee Fraktion in Nederland 1970-1980 [Sympathy for the RAF: The Red Army Faction in the Netherlands 1970-1980]. Pekelder later donated his research archive to the IISG. The main core of this archive consists of the dossiers, which the Maastricht-based lawyer Josephine Dubois-Brinkmann built up during her defence of the two RAF members, Gert Schneider and Christof Wackernagel, who were arrested in the Netherlands. The archive gives a good impression of the interaction between the lawyer and the suspects. Brief description.

Martin Bailey Papers
Martin Bailey was one of the driving forces behind the investigation into the supply of oil to the Rhodesian white regime, which was led by Ian Smith, and later into the apartheid regime in South Africa. Together with Bernard Rivers, he received the British 'Journalist of the Year' prize for his work. The supply of information about violations of the UN oil boycott was an important aspect of the fight against apartheid. Bailey worked closely with the Shipping Research Bureau, which tracked the movement of ships to South Africa from Amsterdam. Brief description.
Photo of Bernard Rivers and Martin Bailey taken from Oilgate. The Sanctions Scandal, IISG call number: 204/158

Drawing and Painting of Koos Vorrink by Elie Neuburger
Throughout the past few years, various museums have critically assessed their own collections. The MuseumgoudA has done this with respect to its collection of works by the Amsterdam artist Elie Neuburger (1891-1972). Given these works were found to bear no direct relationship to the town of Gouda, the museum sought to divest itself of its collection. The IISG thus received two drawings (on one sheet) and a painting of Koos Vorrink from the collection of Neuburger's work. These artworks are very much in their element at the IISG. Neubeurger was raised in the socialist Jewish milieu of the Amsterdam diamond workers. He produced a well-known portrait of Henri Polak, the ANDB (General Dutch Diamond Workers' Union) leader. The portraits of Vorrink, leader of the AJC (Workers' Youth Centre), SDAP (Social Democratic Workers' Party) and the PvdA (Dutch Labour Party), are a welcome addition to the heart of the IISG's art collection.