Alice Cohn (1914–2000) was a

German-Jewish The history of the Jews in Germany goes back at least to the year 321 CE, and continued through the Early Middle Ages (5th to 10th centuries CE) and High Middle Ages (c. 1000–1299 CE) when Jewish immigrants founded the Ashkenazi Jewish commu ...

graphic artist A graphic designer is a practitioner who follows the discipline of graphic design, either within companies or organizations or independently. They are professionals in design and visual communication, with their primary focus on transforming l ...

and master forger for the

Dutch resistance The Dutch resistance () to the History of the Netherlands (1939–1945), German occupation of the Netherlands during World War II can be mainly characterized as non-violent. The primary organizers were the Communist Party of the Netherlands, C ...

during

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

Career

Cohn left Lichtenstein in 1936, to live in the

Netherlands , Terminology of the Low Countries, informally Holland, is a country in Northwestern Europe, with Caribbean Netherlands, overseas territories in the Caribbean. It is the largest of the four constituent countries of the Kingdom of the Nether ...

on a student visa. Initially settling in

Amsterdam Amsterdam ( , ; ; ) is the capital of the Netherlands, capital and Municipalities of the Netherlands, largest city of the Kingdom of the Netherlands. It has a population of 933,680 in June 2024 within the city proper, 1,457,018 in the City Re ...

, Cohn learned

Dutch Dutch or Nederlands commonly refers to: * Something of, from, or related to the Netherlands ** Dutch people as an ethnic group () ** Dutch nationality law, history and regulations of Dutch citizenship () ** Dutch language () * In specific terms, i ...

and worked on

commission In-Commission or commissioning may refer to: Business and contracting * Commission (remuneration), a form of payment to an agent for services rendered ** Commission (art), the purchase or the creation of a piece of art most often on behalf of anot ...

creating

cinema Cinema may refer to: Film * Film or movie, a series of still images that create the illusion of moving image ** Film industry, the technological and commercial institutions of filmmaking ** Filmmaking, the process of making a film * Movie theate ...

posters and children's toys. At the beginning of the war, Cohn found a position with Amsterdam's ''Jewish Council'' as a doctor's assistant, which granted her more freedom than other Jewish residents. She used this freedom to rescue a 3-year-old child. Léonie de Picciotto, an International Council of Jewish Women's

United Nations The United Nations (UN) is the Earth, global intergovernmental organization established by the signing of the Charter of the United Nations, UN Charter on 26 June 1945 with the stated purpose of maintaining international peace and internationa ...

representative, recalls Cohn leading her out of the nursery at

Plantage Plantage is a neighbourhood of Amsterdam, Netherlands located in its Centrum borough. It is bordered by the Entrepotdok to the north, Plantage Muidergracht to the east and south and Nieuwe Herengracht to the west. In the centre of the neighbour ...

in her nurse's uniform. After seeing the child to safety, she fled to

Utrecht Utrecht ( ; ; ) is the List of cities in the Netherlands by province, fourth-largest city of the Netherlands, as well as the capital and the most populous city of the Provinces of the Netherlands, province of Utrecht (province), Utrecht. The ...

, going into hiding in an attic in . The rescued child was eventually reunited with her parents, thanks to forged passports. in 1947, she returned to Lichtenstein, and continued her graphic arts career, designing children's books, posters and toys.

Dutch Resistance

Once in Utrecht, she founded the ''Forgery Agency'' with Rutger Mathijssen and Siem Buddingh. In 1941, after the

German invasion of the Netherlands The German invasion of the Netherlands (), otherwise known as the Battle of the Netherlands (), was a military campaign, part of Case Yellow (), the Nazi German invasion of the Low Countries (Belgium, Luxembourg, and the Netherlands) and Fran ...

, identity cards signifying Jewish status became compulsory for anyone over the age of 14. A civil servant of the

Ministry of the Interior An interior ministry or ministry of the interior (also called ministry of home affairs or ministry of internal affairs) is a government department that is responsible for domestic policy, public security and law enforcement. In some states, the ...

, , developed a sophisticated identity card, the first to have a photograph, a fingerprint of its holder, and, for Jewish residents, a large letter J. Despite the belief that Lentz' ''persoonsbewijs'' (PB), as he named them, would be impossible to forge, Cohn was able to create some of the only

identity card An identity document (abbreviated as ID) is a documentation, document proving a person's Identity (social science), identity. If the identity document is a plastic card it is called an ''identity card'' (abbreviated as ''IC'' or ''ID card''). ...

s that surpassed Nazi scrutiny. The agency referred to the forged documents they created, including PB's,

food stamps In the United States, the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), formerly known as the Food Stamp Program, is a Federal government of the United States, federal government program that provides food-purchasing assistance for Poverty ...

, and other important documents imperative to survival as ''wild papers.'' Her and her co-resisters, called ''The Utrecht Children's Committee'', rescued hundreds of

Jews Jews (, , ), or the Jewish people, are an ethnoreligious group and nation, originating from the Israelites of History of ancient Israel and Judah, ancient Israel and Judah. They also traditionally adhere to Judaism. Jewish ethnicity, rel ...

from being deported to

Nazi Nazism (), formally named National Socialism (NS; , ), is the far-right politics, far-right Totalitarianism, totalitarian socio-political ideology and practices associated with Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party (NSDAP) in Germany. During H ...

concentration camps A concentration camp is a prison or other facility used for the internment of political prisoners or politically targeted demographics, such as members of national or ethnic minority groups, on the grounds of national security, or for exploit ...

and

genocide Genocide is violence that targets individuals because of their membership of a group and aims at the destruction of a people. Raphael Lemkin, who first coined the term, defined genocide as "the destruction of a nation or of an ethnic group" by ...

. During the war's final year, 1945, Cohn's forgery work helped prevent young Dutch men from being sent to Germany as forced laborers. In 2017, Cohn became the first Liechtenstein citizen to receive the ''Jewish Rescuer's Citation'' award. The award was given posthumously to Cohn, along with Mathijssen and Buddingh, by

B'nai B'rith B'nai B'rith International ( ; from ) is an American 501(c)(3) nonprofit Jewish service organization and was formerly a cultural association for German Jewish immigrants to the United States. B'nai B'rith states that it is committed to the se ...

for rescuing Picciotto and for their work forging documents. Cohn's daughter still has much of her tools, including a notebook containing exercises for forging a signature, and donated the collection temporarily for display at the in Amsterdam.

Personal life

Cohn was born in Breslau in 1914. After

liberation Liberation or liberate may refer to: Film and television * ''Liberation'' (film series), a 1970–1971 series about the Great Patriotic War * "Liberation" (''The Flash''), a TV episode * "Liberation" (''K-9''), an episode Gaming * '' Liberati ...

, Cohn learned that all of her relatives from Breslau had been murdered, including her parents. As she moved forward in her career, Cohn began obtaining fabrics from a Lichtenstein-based merchant named Rudolf Bermann. They married in 1947, and had two children, a son and a daughter. Cohn died in 2000.

Notes

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Cohn, Alice German graphic artists German graphic designers German women artists Dutch resistance 1914 births 2000 deaths German women graphic designers German emigrants Immigrants to the Netherlands