Certified Sane

N Helene Jeanty's wartime diary, claiming insanity to fool the Gestapo

Author

Publisher

Printing Details

First edition, hardback in dustwrapper. 19 × 13cm, 243pp.

The wartime diary of Ninette Helene Jeanty, a Belgian resistance fighter. Along with her husband, Paul, she was discovered by the Gestapo hiding a British airman in their Brussels home. As a consequence Paul faced the death penalty, but Helene, who was aware of Article 51 of the German penal code, which states that if it can be proved that the person involved in a capital crime is insane, the death penalty is withheld, claims insanity, and with the help of a sympathetic German lawyer, takes responsibility for the crime and is sent to an asylum for the duration of the war. She was released at the end of War to discover her husband had been shot but she was reunited with her son.

Condition

Quite a scarce book but in well-read condition. The book is in good readable condition, with some tanning to the endpapers and text, and some pulling to the binding. The dustwrapper has loss to all edges and is scruffy but is now within a protective sleeve.