She shuns the label hero – and refused to take money offered by the French government for her courageous actions. But because of her, World War II ended more quickly, with fewer lost lives.
Last night, a Jewish group in Petaluma hosted WWII French spy Marthe Cohn. The 98-year old’s 2002 memoir, Behind Enemy Lines, tells the story of how Cohn, then in her 20s, slipped into Germany as the war wound down in 1945.
Blonde, 4 foot 11, and fluent in German, she pretended to be a German girl searching for her lost boyfriend. All the while, she was sending information about German troop movements to the French army, hastening the war’s end.
She met with KRCB news director Steve Mencher Monday night.
See a photo of Marthe Cohn and find a link to her memoir, Behind Enemy Lines, at norcalpublicmedia.org. Hear this story on demand with our free KRCB mobile app. You can also find this and past stories on our new North Bay Report Facebook page. Comment, share and give us a like there. Follow the North Bay Report on Twitter @KRCBNews.
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