Behind Enemy Lines

September 9, 2002
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 fiancé 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. (Dec.)Forecast:The extraordinary element of a Jewish woman spying behind German lines could increase this book's appeal beyond the usual Holocaust memoir audience.