For a petite French/ Jewish woman living through World War II, Marthe Cohn is one remarkable hero.

Stories of heroics and perseverance filled The Fountain Hills Learning Center on Thursday, Dec. 8. Chabad of Fountain Hills sponsored her talk.

Cohn joined the intelligence service of the French First Army and, posing as a nurse, risked death and slipped into Germany in 1944 to retrieve information on Nazi troop movements.

After the war she returned to France to pursue a career as a nurse. In 1956, while studying in Geneva, she met an American medical student, Major L. Cohn. They married in the United States. They worked together for years, he as an anesthesiologist and she as a nurse.

Cohn, 96, displayed more than a dozen medals that she earned for her bravery and service, including France’s highest military honor, the Médaille militaire.

The event, attended by over 85 people, was literally historic. It's so important for future generations to see what she went through, and apply it to today.

Her eloquent speech sprinkled with her sense of humor had everyone engaged. She shared the historic background and her personal story and encouraged all to read her autobiography “Behind Enemy Lines,” to learn all the details. Copies of her book can be purchased at Chabad of Fountain Hills.