The research leading up to the making of this episode was intense to say the least. I don’t always know what I am getting myself into when I decide the women I will showcase for each episode, and while I knew the parameters of Selma’s story, putting myself in her shoes was certainly difficult because it meant imagining what she went through, and what so many people went through during WWII.

I read three books for this episode, the first being Selma van de Perre’s book, My Name is Selma, but also two other books about women in the resistance during the war. The Light of Days, about the Polish Jewish resistance was an amazing book about a subject that I feel like many people don’t know about or have never been told about. In that book, there are many players, a huge amount of them women, and it highlighted the roles a lot of women played during that time. Men would often overlook women during that time since their sexist beliefs told them that women were inferior, but this very attitude was possibly these women’s greatest strengths. Working as couriers, they bore letters and materials across great distances to help aid in resistance efforts, and for some women, they bore arms in their fight against the Nazi occupation of Poland. The events written about in The Light of Days were both heart-wrenching and inspiring knowing that these women did nothing for themselves and fought mind, body and spirit for the hope of others.

The other book I read to really get an understanding of what was going on at the time was The Nine, a book about nine women that were imprisoned at the same camp after being captured working for the resistance across Western Europe. Their story of escape from the camp and fleeing across Germany as American troops took over at the end of the war is a harrowing tale. The writer does not stray from the harsh realities of the war and ravages wrought against women at that time. The Nine serves as a bleak reminder of the terror of war women have faced for millennia, it was both hard to put down and pick back up.

Unfortunately for the recording of this episode, I had just been getting over a chest cold, and I am afraid the listener will be able to tell. While I strained to be clear, I apologize in advance for anytime I mumble or can’t quite be heard! Hopefully by the next episode I will be back at it and fully convalesced!