"It is important that people know that Jews have fought,

That Jews have not just been captured and put in camps and killed in camps.

Many Jews have fought in the resistance. Even more important: Jewish women!

That's what my mission is." 

{http://soundcloud.com/soundslikerstin/marthe-cohn-jews-have-fought}

I met Marthe Cohn at the house of the German Consul General in Los Angeles. The 96 year old tiny Jewish woman was telling an almost unbeleivable story of crossing the border at the end of WW II to spy for the French army. I knew I had to meet her again to find out more about her life. So I sat down a few days later with Marthe for more than four hours and still am so grateful she took the time to talk with me.

Just imagine:

Two days before her 25th birthday, in April 1945, Marthe Cohn crossed the German border from Switzerland. Her mission started: to help end the war as Jewish spy for the French Army. Her undercover identity was Martha Ulrich, German patriot and nurse, looking for her fiancé Hans, a soldier who had disappeared.

More than 70 years later she has received several medals for risking her life behind enemy lines and gathering crucial information for the French intelligence service. Today Marthe Cohn - born Marthe Hoffnung-Gutglück - is on a new mission: To let people know that Jews have fought.

Marthe's story for German radio DRadio Wissen

Marthe's book "Behind Enemy Lines"

please send your comments to This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.