Jewish French spy in Nazi Germany, now 97, to speak in Elgin

For decades, Marthe Cohn kept to herself the details of her brave and at times harrowing experiences as a Jewish French spy impersonating a nurse in Nazi Germany, not even sharing them with her husband and sons.

After the French government awarded her the Medaille militaire - the highest military award for noncommissioned officers and soldiers - at age 79 in 1999, she finally could share her story with the world, she said.

"I never talked about it because when you are in the Secret Service, you are brainwashed not to talk about it," she said. "My story was so important for me, and I always thought about it."

Cohn, 97, speaks Tuesday at the Centre of Elgin at an event organized by Chabad Jewish Center of Elgin.

She co-wrote a book about her story, "Behind Enemy Lines," published in 2002. "I'm very lucky I have a good memory,"said Cohn, who lives in California with her American husband.

Cohn has a fascinating story, said Rabbi Mendel Shemtov, co-director of Chabad Jewish Center of Elgin.

"It's something that I think will be captivating to everyone present," the rabbi said. "I think people will be just glued to what she has to say."

British author Wendy Holden, who co-wrote the book, described Cohn as "indomitable."

"Marthe was a delight from the moment I met her," Holden said. "At only 4 feet 9 and with a strong French accent, she is a tiny powerhouse of a woman - twinkly eyed, forceful, with excellent recall of events long ago, and a strong sense of right and wrong."

Working on the book was at times emotional, Holden said. She pointed to a chapter that describes Cohn escorting most of her family, including her wheelchair-bound grandmother, across the border of the French Vichy government. They faced the risk of capture and death at the hands of the Gestapo, Nazi Germany's secret police.

"Passing along a row of houses owned by Catholic farmers who were all promised huge rewards if they informed on families like them, they almost wept as they watched the farmers drop to their knees one by one and give themselves the sign of the cross as this little Jewish family passed to safety," Holden said. "I cried as I wrote that episode and I can still weep to think of it now."

It's important to use the past as a guiding light toward the future, Shemtov said.

"We don't like to dwell on the past because it's the past and we have bigger and better things to do ..." he said. "But without knowing and remembering, really, we have nowhere to go."

"Behind Enemy Lines with Marthe Cohn" is at 7 p.m. at the Centre of Elgin, 100 Symphony Way. Tickets are $15 in advance and $20 at the door. There is a book signing afterward. Visit elginchabad.com or call (847) 440-4486.