Customer Reviews

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

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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.

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.

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.

I saw Marthe Cohn on Book TV and was inspired to buy the book. She appears to be a very tiny white haired woman, no wonder her family and friends were shocked to find out that she had been a spy for the free French and a genuine hero. She is blessed with a very sharp mind and a remarkable memory. Her story is so well written that it had me on the edge of my seat, in spite of knowing that she did indeed survive.

The most telling part of the book is where she describes the paralyzing fear she felt as she was about to cross into Nazi Germany. She somehow found the courage and made the crossing many times. Petite, blond and speaking impeccable German, she was easily accepted as "Aryan", even by one Nazi officer who was sure he could "smell a Jew". She was thus able to get much vital information and saved many lives.

This is a great book for anyone who likes adventure stories. The fact that it is true makes it all the more appealing. I couldn't wait to share this book.

Marte Cohen, all 4 foot, 11 inches of her, a modest unassuming lady, is a member of my Temple, so I had heard snippets of her story before, which few people (even her children) may have known about. However, I had no idea of the incredible drama involved until my wife purchased a copy of Marte's recently published book. Since I do a lot of my leisure reading upon retiring, I never realized what sleepless nights I would have, inasmuch as I could not put the book down except when I might finally fall asleep from fatigue in the wee hours of the morning. Not only is it a wonderful story of the bravery of a self-described "average" (hardly), young, French woman who voluntarily experienced life-threatening situations during a period of incredible evil, it provides great insight into what everyday life must have been like in pre- and post-war France. This book was especially uplifting, even for an old cynic like me.

This is a story of great personal courage in the midst of horrible tragedy. It is the story of Marthe Cohn who was born in the city of Metz, raised in a devout German- speaking Jewish religious household. Circumstances including the loss of her fiance led her to become a fighter in the French Resistance. Courageously she worked behind enemy lines to provide vital intelligence for the Allies.

In this book she tells her own story but while doing so tells that of tens of others with whom she shared a struggle and a world. At the end of the book she discloses what has become of many of them with the passing of the years.

For her courageous actions she was awarded the Highest French Military Medal of Distinction.

She comments at the end of the book that her maiden name translates as "Hope and 'Goodness'. Her life and actions certainly were an exemplification of her name, and evidence of the greatness of the human spirit in times of darkness and adversity.

Cohn's memoir entitled Behind Enemy Lines displays her life during the inter-war period and World War II. She begins her life living in Metz, France located in the reserved sector, the northeastern part of France with a large close-knit family. The first part of the book describes her life as a young teenager endured the circumstances of being Jewish. She sees her friends as well as her sister be taken to Auschwitz. Her brothers enter the French army to be apart of the French Resistance. Throughout the war, her family takes in various "abandoned" children as they move further from the Franco-German border in hope that no one else from their family will be taken away. Later, her fiancé is killed in a French Resistance act and her sister is killed on Yum Kippur in Auschwitz which motivates Cohn to join the Free French forces. Through endless rejections from the army she finally is accepted as a nurse. While working as a nurse, she is discovered by a General to work as an intelligence officer because she can speak French and German. Cohn completes life-changing missions traveling across German boundaries to undercover what the Germans will do next in France. Years later, Marthe Cohn is awarded France's highest military honor, Medaille Militarie, for the difficult worked she did while with the Free French Forces. To this day, no one, not even her children, know what she truly endured to be the hero she is today. This memoir displays the circumstances of war and how it can propel people to do remarkable things even when fear can overpower them.
As a reader, I believe the author shows a convincing point of view of the war as a French Jewish woman. We have read countless accounts of the lifestyles of the Jewish people during this time, but Cohn is the first one to explain it through the eyes of a woman who worked in the Army never revealing her true identity to the Nazis or to her employers. She is a petite, blonde-headed woman who crosses enemy lines for her family. Her reasons for fighting for her country are remarkable. Her confidence in herself as well as her will power pushes her to do unthinkable things. She is determined to join the army so she has her identification papers illegally changed. One can understand where her determination came from because her sister, who was in a labor camp before Auschwitz, could have escaped many times but refused to because she wanted to help the other victims in the camps.
War brings out the coward and hero in everyone. Cohn displays bravery by intimidating German POWs with interrogations to further extract information about the German plan. At first she is intimidated by these large soldiers but the feeling of fear leaves her and she becomes the best interrogator in the First French Army. She begins traveling with Generals to different POW camps to continue her investigation of the German position in the war. She impacts the outcome of the war. One night, she discovers that the Germans are planning to invade Switzerland. Cohn quickly retreats to the nearest French headquarters to relay the message. In the morning the Germans are stopped at the border by a column of French troops. Since she received that vital information, a sector of the German army is forced to flee and surrender to the French. Cohn's bravery helps the Allied forces defeat the German Army. Even though Cohn was frozen with fear while crossing the border, she accomplished so much that has made her an international hero.
Cohn's story is an inspiration to not only women but to all future leaders trying to make a difference whether is in their own community or internationally. We can all learn from her point of view. She has persevered through the circumstances of being a Jewish woman during World War II as well as working as an intelligence officer in the French army. It takes a spectacular person to accomplish what Marthe Cohn did. I recommend this book to anyone looking for a boast of motivation in their life.

On October 7 and 8, 2006, C-SPAN 2 featured this book and author on Book TV. The author, now in her mid 90s, spoke in impeccable English for about one hour without notes. Because she used the active voice, her adventures were easy to follow. It was a tour de force.

Her parents lived in Alsace when it was part of Germany. But she and her five older siblings grew up in Alsace after WWI when it was part of France. As a result, she became fluent in German because that was the language spoken in her home, and she became fluent in French because that was the language she learned in school. Despite her youth, her fluency in both languages made a perfect spy for the French resistance and French Army.

The book is about her amazing adventures as a spy and agent of the Free French. Despite her modesty, her actions reveal a woman of incredible physical and moral courage. This book and author should be the subject of movie or miniseries that would inspire young women to use their talents for great causes.

As a Holocaust survivor, I have often heard the comment"you were cowards" not resisting the brutalities perpetrated by the Germans. Many Jews in Palestine, (the Yishuv in 1945-1948) were acrimonious, questioning the Holocaust survivors: "why did you let the Germans lead you like sheep to slaughter houses?" Not being a captive in a concentration camp, Marthe Cohn could join the French Resistance. Courage or cowardice depends on the surrounding circumstances. For detainees behind barbed-wire it was not possible to fight back. In one camp, my uniform did not even have pockets. We had nothing to fight with. To fight off armed men with bare hands would be suicidal. In some instances, where a slight chance to fight the Germans did exist, Jews did resist. The Warsaw Ghetto Uprising in the spring of 1943 is one example. Marthe Cohn is another manifestation of Jewish courage and bravery. When the war ended, Marthe was told that she would be rewarded with the Gold Star and 25,000 francs for her work for intelligence in Germany. Marthe response was: "I don't want the monetary reward. I don't want to make money out of what happened. It would be wrong to accept." What a humble and noble attitude! Eventually, in the year 2000, at the age of eighty, Marthe Cohn was awarded France's highest military honor, the Medaille Militaire for outstanding military service.

Marthe Cohn, was imbued with beauty of soul and body. She had a profound sense of justice and resentment for French anti-Semites and Nazi racists. As a little girl, she was listening to her brother's reading about the pogroms carried out by Russian Cossacks against its Jewish population. She was appalled to learn what some people could do to others, just because they were Jewish. At the age of five, several teenagers threw stones at her, shouting "Dirty Jews." She couldn't believe that Jews were being treated differently just for being Jewish. "What did it mater which faith we practiced?" Marthe once asked her father. When the German had occupied France, Marthe and her family tried to escape from their gravitational home to the unoccupied part of France. At one juncture, she asked a priest, who lived at the border area, to help her family to find a path to other side of the border. The priest said "I'll help you because it is the right thing to do. But you should know...I never trust a Jew." Because of the biblical story of Judas Iscariot's behavior, thousands of years ago, a Jew today can not be trusted? At a nursing school in France, Marthe was told "I just don't want any Jews in my school." In the French Army, a captain made a sarcastic remark about his colleague "Neu did bloody well for a Jew". (p.162). The captain said that in Marthe's presence, who had never revealed her religion to colleagues in the Army. When the war ended, Marthe searched for her sister Stephanie. Calling the Red Cross for help to locate Stephanie, Marthe was told:"We are not in the business of tracing lost Jews (p 217)."

As a young boy, growing up in Poland I was harassed by Catholic kids with epithet "Jesus Killer". I was aware of rampant anti-Semitism in Eastern Europe. Anti-Semitic incidents in Christian Western Europe come vividly to light in BEHIND ENEMY LINES. Being affected by it personally it is sometimes too much to bear. It is chaffing; stereotyping or sweeping guilt by association is illogical. Readers of this excellent book will agree that old hostilities should be reduced to rubble. We can all sing together with different voices in a very successful choir.

Mrs. Cohn and her co-writer Wendy Holden present a very exciting and suspenseful history. They did a wonderful job describing the reactions of Mrs.Cohn's fellow French citizens (Jews and non-Jews) to the German/Vichey administration of France.