Van de Perre is the daughter of Jewish actor, singer, and presenter Barend Velleman and Fem Spier.

[3] In 1942, Van de Perre was called to report to work in a fur factory that supplied the German army, but she managed to get an exemption.

[3] After her mother and sister Clara were arrested in 1943, Van de Perre became a member of the "TD Group", a Dutch resistance organization.

Upon her return to the Netherlands, Van de Perre learned that her parents and sister had been murdered in Auschwitz and Sobibór.

[4] In 1947, Van de Perre secured a job at the Dutch embassy in London with the assistance of her brother David.

After graduating, Van de Perre became a teacher of sociology and mathematics at Sacred Heart High School, Hammersmith, London.

Since 1995, Van de Perre has gone to Ravensbrück for one week every year to talk about the war with Dutch and German students.