A group of Tunisian schoolgirls wearing aprons. Nadia Cohen is in the first row, third from the left. Tunis, Tunisia, ca. 1930-1935.
Nadia Cohen was born on January 17, 1924, in Tunis. Nadia's parents came from Orthodox households, but her father left the yeshiva at the age of seven to study Italian, Arabic, and accounting in a French school. In 1938, Nadia was sent to a boarding school in France. She returned home for a visit in the summer of 1939 but could not return to school that fall due to the outbreak of the war.
Immediately after the Allied landings in Algeria and Morocco, the Germans occupied Tunisia. After the occupation, an SS officer came to the Cohen's house and confiscated everything leaving only the table and chairs for the Germans to use. They gave the family 24 hours to pack and leave and then expropriated the home to use as a barracks for soldiers.
We would like to thank Crown Family Philanthropies, Abe and Ida Cooper Foundation, the Claims Conference, EVZ, and BMF for supporting the ongoing work to create content and resources for the Holocaust Encyclopedia. View the list of donor acknowledgement.
