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

11 AM LOS ANGELES • 2 PM NEW YORK

Chichinette: The Accidental Spy is an inspiring documentary about Marthe Cohn, a feisty French Jewish woman who joined the French Army during WWII after Hitler’s rise to power. After remaining silent for nearly 60 years, Marthe began sharing her extraordinary story of resistance—how she used her German accent and blonde hair to pose as a nurse, slipping behind enemy lines to gather critical intelligence on Nazi movements for Allied commanders. Her family had fled to the south of France, and one of her sisters was sent to Auschwitz. Marthe’s harrowing journey is told with reverence, and her irrepressible spirit fills the film with hope. She passed away in 2024 at the age of 105, having spent her later years speaking around the world and inspiring generations with her courage and resilience.

THE SCHEDULE

⇒ December 5-December 8, watch the film Chichinette: The Accidental Spy on your home device. A link will be provided to all who register.

⇒ Sunday, December 7 at 2:00 p.m. US Eastern Time, tune into the program with our distinguished panel of speakers. A link will be provided to all who register.

MEET THE SPEAKERS

Nicola Hens studied at the German Film and Television Academy Berlin, the Bauhaus-University Weimar, Germany, and the Academy of Fine Arts in Toulouse, France. Since 2015 she has been a lecturer in media and filmmaking in the International Masters programme for Art & Design at Bauhaus-University. As director of photography, her films include Death & the Maiden (prizes at DocAviv Israel and AmDocs Palm Springs), Elisa (Best Cinematography at Cambridge Film Festival and other prizes at other festivals) and In the Shade of the Apple Tree. Chichinette: The Accidental Spy is her debut feature-length documentary as director, and has been shown at international film festivals.

Stephan Cohn, right, is the eldest of Marthe and Major Cohn’s two sons; he is named after Marthe’s sister Stephanie who was killed in Auschwitz. He attended Pomona College and UCLA Medical School. He then moved to Chicago, where he is an associate professor of Clinical Anesthesiology at the University of Illinois and is the medical director of their outpatient surgery services. He is fluent in French and has frequently visited his mother’s family in France. When Steven Spielberg started his Shoah Foundation, Stephan helped convince his mother to finally share her amazing story.