A book is more than just a book. Gisela Susanne Seligmann (1929-?)

I love the stories in books, but it's possible that I love the stories OF books even more. I have a particular fondness for tracing the owners of books from from their signatures... who were they? why did they buy this book? One example here on the blog is tracing H Michael Neiditch's ownership of a set of John Murray hardbacks from a medical consultation receipt in one of the volumes (221bcooee.blogspot.com/2023/05/was-h-michael-neiditch-was-sherlockian.html).

These connections can open up connections to our history, and be far more profound than the physical item itself.

And so a new book arrived. It was not expensive (7 pounds), and it was not in amazing shape ("Some Damage - Good to Fair". It does have a dust jacket, but the spine is almost completely faded. The book is a copy of Arthur Conan Doyle's 'The White Company'. 

It was published in England by John Murray in February 1942, and is clearly advertised as "Murray's Cheap Edition". This cheapness is reflected in the stamp on the title page under a British Lion stating that it is 'Book Production War Economy Standard' and 'This Book is Produced in Complete Conformity with the Authorised Economy Standards'.

The book may have "Some Damage - Good to Fair" but I don't care. This book is not rare. What makes this book special to me is its owner.

On the title page, above the name of the book is the name of the owner, in what appears to be the writing hand of someone who is not quite an adult:

Gisela Susanne Seligmann,

Christmas 1942

Who was Gisela?

With such a unique name, this question was easily asked, and provided a window into a moment in a child's life. Gisela was a young German girl of Jewish heritage who had fled Nazi Germany immediately prior to World War 2. Gisela found herself living in the London area, far from her native home, safe from persecution but living with the risk of death from the sky. And there, in late 1942 Gisela received as a Christmas present a copy of 'The White Company' in English - a language she'd had a few short years to learn.

There's quite a bit of information available about the family, thanks to the installation of Stolpersteine stones (translated as 'stumbling stones'). These brass plaques were conceived by a German artist, with one created for each individual (read more here: www.theguardian.com/cities/2019/feb/18/stumbling-stones-a-different-vision-of-holocaust-remembrance) : "The inscription on each stone begins “Here lived”, followed by the victim’s name, date of birth, and fate: internment, suicide, exile or, in the vast majority of cases, deportation and murder.".

The web guide to each stumbling stone (stolpersteine-guide.de/map) has a page about the Seligmann family (https://stolpersteine-guide.de/map/biografie/1512/familie-seligmann-wohnhaus-und-praxis). 

The stolpersteine for Gisela, located at Domgasse 19 in Wurzen, Germany. Translation: 
Susanne Gisela Seligmann, born in 1929, escaped to England in 1939, lived here. Image from de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Liste_der_Stolpersteine_in_Wurzen

The stolpersteine guide provides both the location of the stones, and a biography of the family. It reveals that Arthur Seligmann (1893-1962) was born into a family that had converted to Christianity, and he married Emma Susanne  Löwenstein (1900-1975) in 1926. The couple moved to Wurzen, where Claus-Dietrich (1927) and Susanne-Gisela (1929) were born, and baptized. 

Of course, in 1933 insidious racism entered their lives, slowly stripping the family's rights. It is heartbreaking to read phrases such as "Gisela was excluded from her class and had to sit on the last bench all by herself." It relates that "On the night of the pogrom against the Jews on November 9, 1938, when their property was being destroyed and looted throughout Germany, the mob also gathered in front of Seligmann's house." Arthur was arrested and interned, and ultimately released based on the agreement the family would leave Germany. The Seligmann's did leave separately ; Gisela with her mother in 1939, reuniting with father and brother in London.

It was there in the London area that the family worked to re-establish, not before living through the Blitz, and the fear that Germany would invade England and re-expose them to persecution and death. And it was in the middle of all this that Gisela received her Christmas 1942 copy of 'The White Company' displaying brave soldiers brandishing swords and emblazoned with British lions.

A photo of Gisela Susanne Seligmann as a young girl in Wurzen, from stolpersteine-guide.de/map/biografie/1512/familie-seligmann-wohnhaus-und-praxis

I don't know much of Gisela's fate (and it wouldn't be appropriate to dig) but I assume this book became available with other belongings from her estate. The marriage indexes show Gisela married a man named CRAWFORD in 1953. The stolpersteine page states that Gisela became a doctor like her father, had children and grandchildren, and lived near London. The book was purchased from Milton Keynes north of London, so perhaps that's near where she lived her life.

I feel lucky to own this book, that was owned by a young girl who experienced and overcame hatred, fear and persecution that I'll never experience. I'm amazed that she could flee to another country, learn a new language, live through the war, and train to become a medical practitioner in a male-dominated English-dominated world. I feel lucky to own this book, and will look after it for her.