Selma van de Perre - "My Name Is Selma"

so important to many people and especially to yourself? May the fifth, oh, well, because it is. It is rather good thing to remember, because be the free from German occupation. I know people are celebrating today, but many people lost life and families and are not ready to celebrate every time freedom. I think the day before yesterday was very much more important because that was the day of the debt,

although of course today is very important liberation day. And in your new book, My Name is Selma, you talk about your life. You talk about how you grew up in the Netherlands. You talk about how your family weren't even practicing Jews. You were just living a normal life and all of a sudden that got turned upside down

when the Nazis started invading Europe. I would love to know what that felt like to you as a person, where one day you felt like you were part of a community and a society and the next thing you know, you were in danger just because of your family's history.

Although my my great grandparents were very religious, but my father, that's a very great liberal, and so I got that home from him, and we lived in a life amongst all Christian people and just were one of them, well, I mean as civilians, and so it was not felt you. You knew, my girlfriends knew I was Jewish, and I knew it was Catholic, and I knew was brought to stuff, but it didn't make any difference. All friends and that

changed then the Germans came in. You talk about in the book how your life changed over the course of a few months, where in one moment you were a young girl who was seventeen years old, and then because of what was happening in the Netherlands, the Jewish community you had to come together to try to fight the

scourge of the Nazis. As a young girl who is dyeing her hair to change how she looks as a young girl who is trying to help fellow members of the Jewish community with passports and papers and food and transports. What was going through your mind when this was happening. We were thinking that the end would come soon. Effect it came later than we thought, but it was set all the time. It will learn to be six months

or something. Don't don't forget. The Netherlands were neutral in the First World War, and the whole population thought that this time we would be neutral as well, and no occupation was considered. So when it did come, it was a great surprise. After a year or so, the the de creations came in that Jews were not allowed in the on the tramps, and not allowed in the cinemas, and not allowed to visit Christian friends anymore, etcetera. And so that then then has made to feel an outsider.

Do you when you were captured by the Germans? They forced you to work on an assembly line manufacturing gas masks for the Germans, and you talk about how what you would do is leave some of the screws loose so that the gas masks wouldn't work properly. I have two questions about that. Firstly, weren't you afraid that you would be caught? And secondly, where did you get that idea from? Well, I was only assembly line and one of the first days I was sitting on this side

of dissembly. Then the other girl, Hecki Fout, that's her name, became very important in the resistance. Um she said, don't don't I discrews too tight. She told me too. So I was very good. I thought it was wonderful because summer times we tried to do you see, not realizing how dangerous it was. Really we def saught, we and we could do anything. And later on, when I had my thumb broken and couldn't workle dissemily learned for a week. And afterwards I had to put the gas masks in

the box and check them. And of course I knew that the scruis were loose, but I still put them in because it was sent straight to Germany and Poland for the soldiers. When when you look at the world today, you are one of the few remaining survivors of that time. Many people worry that society will forget that story. As fewer survivors are able to recount what happened to them, those stories will be lost to history, and part of

the fear is that history will then repeat itself. Why do you think it's so important for us to keep on talking about what happened during that time when Nazi Germany was invading the world. Because that's why I think commemorations are so important, because where you commemorate, you tell the story, and people tell the stories which has happened.

And I've personally go every year back to Rapin's group with a group of women and men who have just finished their teaching training teachers training, and um, they tell the children when they become a teacher, what has happened and what I've heard and I've had and I've had and so that's why it's good I do this every year and um, and I've done it for the last twenty years by now, and I have now I have often get letters from our emails from these students, some

of these students who have become teachers and who are telling the children. I often wondered how many of them really did something with this workshop information, But of course they did. That's very good to hear. I didn't think the book was going to be important. I didn't think the boop was going to be top of the book seller's list. I was very pleased that it was going to be published, but never never in my life thought that it was going to be so read. That's right,

you know. I think I think the reason everybody should read the book, and I think the reason so many people have read the book is because not only have you lived an unbelievable life through one of the most unbelievable and horrific times, but what you're teaching people about life beyond that is so important. And and before I, before I, before I leave you, you are now ninety eight years old, and you still live life. You enjoy yourself, You play bridge. I was told that you play golf.

I don't know if that's true. So you play golf until until last November White So playing golf, playing bridge, living life. I would love to know what inspires you to find your joy and what keeps you going in the world every single day. I do enjoy every day. I try to enjoy every day. So um, I tried to eat sensibly, behave sensibly, and I try to have friends. It's I have and are very good to me, especially no old. Every morning when I wake up, I'm glad

that I'm alive. I'm very much realize the fact that I am alive and many many, many thousands of people are not. Written the book also in commemoration of all those people who be resistance vitus and lost of their life, helping other people to stay alive really well. I will say the us, UM, from my small little world, thank you for inspiring us, thank you for writing the book, Um, thank you for sharing your story, and thank you so

much for joining me on the show. I hope you get back to your bridge and your friends and continue enjoying every single day some of underpair by a donkey. You're welcome. Thank you. What's the Daily Show weeknights at eleven ten Central on Comedy Central and stream full episodes anytime on Paramount Plus. This has been a Comedy Central podcast. W