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Willem Wilbrink biography withdrawn from sale amid doubts over camp history

Bol confirms removal at the publisher’s request; no new explanation from the publisher has been provided.

The biography of Willem Wilbrink has been withdrawn from sale after serious doubts were raised about his accounts of Dachau concentration camp. A spokesperson for Bol confirmed to NOS on Thursday evening that the title had been taken offline at the publisher’s request.

The book is Getekend voor het leven in Dachau en Indië, written by Laurens van Aggelen. According to NOS, publisher White Elephant Media could not be reached for comment on Thursday evening. The decision to halt sales is the latest development in a matter that became public last week. The news report consulted contains no substantive explanation from the publisher for the removal.

The original announcement on the White Elephant Publishing website dates from 13 September 2023. It presented the book as Wilbrink’s life story, recorded during lengthy conversations with Van Aggelen. In that description, the publisher accepted his alleged time in Dachau as fact. That earlier announcement documents how the book was presented; it provides no independent evidence of the wartime experiences described in it.

Last week, NOS reported that researchers had found no documentation or camp number that could establish Wilbrink’s imprisonment in Dachau. According to the Nederlands Dachau Comité, it had been aware of the problems with his account since 2024. Chair Wimar Jaeger said that, following research and consultation with historians, the committee had tried to prevent further distribution of the book and had informed remembrance organisations.

There was subsequently disagreement over whether that information had been passed on. Wageningen45 told NOS that it had not been informed by the Dachau Comité. The organisation stressed that it relied on expert bodies when recognising veterans and their accounts. Wilbrink made public appearances at commemorations and also spoke at schools about his alleged camp history. His account therefore reached an audience beyond the biography’s readership.

Van Aggelen defended his approach to NOS last week. He said he had checked what he could check and pointed out that parts of the account had previously appeared in other media. He also said he had omitted some claims from the book because, in his view, they could not have been true. That was his earlier response to the criticism; it is not a new explanation for the decision to halt sales.

In the same earlier coverage, NIOD researcher Kees Ribbens warned of the consequences of unreliable testimony. Personal accounts can make history relatable, but inaccuracies can also undermine trust in well-substantiated accounts, he said. He also feared that those acting in bad faith would use such cases to sow doubt about the Holocaust. This is a warning from the researcher, not a finding about the consequences of this particular book.

Bol’s confirmation makes clear that the title was removed from its platform at the publisher’s initiative. The sources consulted do not establish whether a corrected edition is being prepared or what arrangements, if any, apply to previous buyers. Nor do they provide a basis for statements about Wilbrink’s motives. The current finding therefore remains limited to the withdrawal from sale, with the previously published criticism providing background.

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