Behind Enemy Lines: The True Story of a French Jewish Spy in Nazi Germany [Paperback]

Marthe Cohn (Author), Wendy Holden (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: March 28, 2006

Marthe Cohn was a beautiful young Jewish woman living just across the German border in France when Hitler rose to power. Her family sheltered Jews fleeing the Nazis, including Jewish children sent away by their terrified parents. But soon her homeland was also under Nazi rule. As the Nazi occupation escalated, Marthe’s sister was arrested and sent to Auschwitz. The rest of her family was forced to flee to the south of France. Always a fighter, Marthe joined the French Army.

As a member of the intelligence service of the French First Army, Marthe fought valiantly to retrieve needed inside information about Nazi troop movements by slipping behind enemy lines, utilizing her perfect German accent and blond hair to pose as a young German nurse who was desperately trying to obtain word of a fictional fiancé. By traveling throughout the countryside and approaching troops sympathetic to her plight, risking death every time she did so, she learned where they were going next and was able to alert Allied commanders.

When, at the age of eighty, Marthe Cohn was awarded France’s highest military honor, the Médaille Militaire, not even her children knew to what extent this modest woman had faced death daily while helping defeat the Nazi empire. At its heart, this remarkable memoir is the tale of an ordinary human being who, under extraordinary circumstances, became the hero her country needed her to be.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

This compelling memoir is testament to how extraordinary circumstances can transform a life-and how an extraordinary person reacts to difficult circumstances. Cohn was a typical French-Jewish teenager when WWII broke out, but as it did for millions of others, the war transformed her life in unimaginable ways. "There was no time to be frightened," she and Holden, a veteran journalist, write. The first part of the book chronicles her family and friends' response to the war. That countless other books have described the effects of the Nazi onslaught-the life-and-death consequences of the unthinkable decisions many were forced to make-makes her descriptions no less powerful and tragic. The narrative turns into a quasi thriller in its second half, depicting how the death of Cohn's fiance led her, now a nurse, to join the Free French forces in the fight to defeat the Nazis. A blonde, fluent German speaker who never mentioned to her superiors that she was a Jew, she went on several life-threatening missions into German territory, earning France's highest military honors. But she describes her actions without self-aggrandizement. What comes through is the importance of courageous individual action in the most dire situations. This is the amazing story of a woman who lived through one of the worst times in human history, losing family members to the Nazis but surviving with her spirit and integrity intact-Cohn now lives in California. 8 pages of b&w photos.
Copyright 2002 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

From Booklist

The courageous Marthe Hoffnung was born in 1920 in the city ofMetz, 33 miles from the Franco-German border. Born into a close-knitJewish family, Marthe and her six brothers and sisters basked in theglow of love, education, and freedom of expression, but darker timesaltered their lives forever when Hitler's machinations reached theperimeters of France to shatter their lives. Marthe's family played anactive role in the Resistance movement, often hiding fellow Jews intheir home or ensuring their passage to an escape route. Thisselflessness would manifest itself further when Marthe joined theFrench army and, with her perfect German accent and blond hair, madeseveral trips into occupied Germany posing as a German nurse lookingfor her fiance in order to obtain critical intelligenceinformation. In 1990, at the age of 80, Marthe was awarded theMedaille Militaire, France's highest honor. Despite havingplayed a tremendous role in securing vital strategic informationcrucial to ending World War II, Cohn relays her amazing story ofunprecedented bravery with simplicity and modesty. Elsa Gaztambide
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 304 pages
• Publisher: Three Rivers Press (March 28, 2006)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0307335909
• ISBN-13: 978-0307335906
• Product Dimensions: 5.2 x 0.6 x 8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 11.2 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (18 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #368,012 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

19 of 21 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Behind Enemy Lines, March 26, 2005

By 

Neal Bellet (Wayne, New Jersey United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Behind Enemy Lines: The True Story of a French Jewish Spy in Nazi Germany (Hardcover)

Behind Enemy Lines is the story of the book's author Marthe Cohn. Written in novel-like fashion the story grips the reader from the first page and does not let get until the last. That Ms. Cohn, and the majority of her immediate family were able to survive the German occupation of France is miracle enough for any book. What she did after the liberation, joining the French Army, crossing the border by herself into Nazi Germany, spying on the Germans is truly a remarkable tale. Her life would make a great movie. We are very fortunate that Ms. Cohn took the time to write this book because this is the type of story that needs to be read and remembered by all. The only problem was one glaring historical typo that has Paris being liberated by the forces of Colonel Leclerc and his Second Armored Division. Leclerc was a general. I very highly recommend the book.

17 of 19 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars IT'S ALL IN TIMEING....OF OUR LIVES, January 18, 2003

By 

Brady L. Buchanan (Henderson, Nevada United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Behind Enemy Lines: The True Story of a French Jewish Spy in Nazi Germany (Hardcover)

If you like adventure, heartache, love affairs (not what you may think)and luck, you must read this book. This lady was in her late teens and early twenties during WW II. As her family is Jewish, they lived through all kinds of hell, however, the resourcefulness of the author along with many regular citizens of her area, this immediate family was able to live through the ordeal (excepting two people) and Ms. Cohn has written a fine book of the times and what she accomplished. What a fine human being Marthe Cohn is.

13 of 14 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Behind Enemy Lines never left my hands, December 19, 2003

By 

Hope (Knoxville, TN) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Behind Enemy Lines: The True Story of a French Jewish Spy in Nazi Germany (Hardcover)

This enthralling book captivated my attention for hours on end. It gave an interesting insight, both witty and serious, into the world during Hitler. Not only did it focus on the Jews, but also on the Germans who were not Nazis. The depth of the story was incredible. I've had to reread it several times because of the effect it had on me. And my first word when I finished this book was "Wow". If I can, I'm going to encourage my city school system to add this book to the required reading for high school students.