The Saturday Book 17, signed by Selma van de Perre
This copy owned and signed by Selma van de Perre, WW2 Dutch resistance worker and Ravensbruck concentration camp survivor
Author
Publisher
Printing Details
First edition. Hardback in dustwrapper. 23.5 × 16cm, 304pp.
An ordinary book owned by an extraordinary woman. This copy belonged to Selma van de Perre (née Velleman) and is signed by her on the front free endpaper. Born into a Jewish family in Amsterdam in 1922, Selma became a pivotal member of the Dutch Resistance (TD Group) during the Nazi occupation. Operating under the aliases Marga and Wil, she worked as a courier, transporting forged documents and supplies—even infiltrating Nazi Headquarters in Paris to retrieve intelligence.
Betrayed in 1944, she was sent to Camp Vught and subsequently to Ravensbrück concentration camp, where she survived brutal conditions and illness. Only after liberation did she learn that her parents and sister had been murdered in the camps.
After the war, Selma moved to London, working for the Dutch Embassy and the BBC World Service. It was there she met and married fellow Resistance member and journalist Hugo van de Perre. Until her passing in 2025 at the age of 103, Selma remained a tireless voice for remembrance, frequently returning to Ravensbrück to speak and ensure the horrors of the past were never forgotten. Her life was immortalized in her renowned autobiography, My Name Is Selma.
The 17th annual issue of The Saturday book, which provided literary and artistic commentary about life in Britain during the Second World War and the ensuing decades. This issue's contributors and subjects include P G Wodehouse, David Gentleman, John Nash, L T C Rolt, L S Lowry, Alan Ross, Fred Bason etc etc
Condition
The book is in good condition, some dusting to the page edges and shelfwear. The dustwrapper has a small amount of loss and creasing to the edges but the important attribute of this copy is the ownership.
Books are currently zero-rated for duty (as of May 2026), so the price shown is the price you pay.
Price
£50.00
