My wife and I attended a talk by Marthe Cohn, a 98 year old French Jew who was a spy in Nazi Germany. It is a remarkable story and one that needs to be heard. Marthe has a book, “Behind Enemy Lines”, which I read a few months after her talk. This book is well worth the read as it provides detailed information about the Jews struggles in occupied France.
Marthe was born in France in 1920 in the Lorraine region near the German border. She was required to learn German in school and spoke French at home with her sisters.
Most of Marthe’s family survived World War II largely because of the assistance from French people in their community. She said that 75% of French Jews survived because French communities were willing to hide them and to provide forged papers that passed German scrutiny. In fact, the only country in Europe to have a higher survival rate for Jews was Denmark where 95% of Jews survived. The Danish Jews survived because Danish fisherman used their fishing boats to take the Jews to Sweden which was a neutral territory. The common denominator was that people risked their lives and the lives of their family to protect the Jews – respect and caring for other human beings.
Marthe is one of seven children. Her two brothers escaped occupied France early because the family believed that the young male Jews would be targets for the Nazis. It was much later that they realized they were all in danger. The family was able to escape occupied France to unoccupied France because a man in their community provided them with forged papers and there was no charge. Sadly, one of Marthe’s sisters was taken, before they could leave occupied France, for helping the French resistance and ultimately she was sent to Auschwitz and the family never saw her again. Marthe and her sister had been assisting British and American airmen escape occupied France with the help of a farmer who owned property that straddled occupied and unoccupied France.
Marthe, at age 24, joined the French Army after the Allies liberated France in 1944. She transferred to French Intelligence once an officer realized she was fluent in German. Her profile made her an ideal spy and, after a few weeks of training, she entered the field by going into Germany to gain information on German troop movements. The information Marthe obtained accelerated the Allies movement into Germany and shortened the war and saved many lives.
Marthe did not talk about her work as a spy for many years after the war because she thought people would not believe her. It was only after doing some research in France that her war file turned up and the people who reviewed the file were impressed by her contributions. The French government awarded Marthe the highest French military medal. This was the same medal the French awarded to Winston Churchill.
I believe we witnessed a talk from a humble, confident women who ran forward and not away when faced with the most difficult of times.
My second cup is now empty………………………
