at the Centre of Elgin, 100 Symphony Way. "Behind Enemy Lines with Marthe Cohn" is at 7 p.m. "But without knowing and remembering, really, we have nowhere to go." "We don't like to dwell on the past because it's the past and we have bigger and better things to do. It's important to use the past as a guiding light toward the future, Shemtov said. "I cried as I wrote that episode and I can still weep to think of it now." "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. They faced the risk of capture and death at the hands of the Gestapo, Nazi Germany's secret police. 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. Working on the book was at times emotional, 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." "Marthe was a delight from the moment I met her," Holden said. "I think people will be just glued to what she has to say."īritish author Wendy Holden, who co-wrote the book, described Cohn as "indomitable." "It's something that I think will be captivating to everyone present," the rabbi said. "I'm very lucky I have a good memory,"said Cohn, who lives in California with her American husband.Ĭohn has a fascinating story, said Rabbi Mendel Shemtov, co-director of Chabad Jewish Center of Elgin. She co-wrote a book about her story, "Behind Enemy Lines," published in 2002. "My story was so important for me, and I always thought about it."Ĭohn, 97, speaks Tuesday at the Centre of Elgin at an event organized by Chabad Jewish Center of Elgin. "I never talked about it because when you are in the Secret Service, you are brainwashed not to talk about it," she said.
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