Kadmi Cohen
Who was Kadmi Cohen?
French-Jewish writer
Biographical data adapted from Wikipedia’s article on Kadmi Cohen (CC BY-SA 4.0).
Biography
Isaac Kadmi Cohen was born in 1892 in Łódź, which was then part of the Russian Empire and is now in Poland. As a young man, he moved to Palestine and attended high school at Lyceum Herzliah in Tel Aviv. When World War I began, he joined the French Foreign Legion in 1914, a decision that would significantly impact his life. His service during the war led to him gaining French citizenship in 1920, and he settled in France, where he built a career in law and writing.
In Paris, Cohen became a practicing lawyer and a prominent voice in the French Jewish community. He started the Paris Union of Young Lawyers and defended a doctoral dissertation in philosophy in 1922 at a French university called 'Introduction à l'histoire des institutions sociales et politiques chez les Sémites.' Cohen regularly contributed to Mercure de France, an important literary and cultural journal, with many articles on Jewish issues, Zionism, and related political topics. A devoted Zionist, he supported the Revisionist movement led by Vladimir Jabotinsky and strongly advocated for creating a Jewish state.
Cohen's personal life saw him marrying a Frenchwoman who converted to Judaism in the early 1920s. They had three children together: Olivier Cohen-Steiner, born in 1936; Jean-François Steiner, born in 1938; and Josée Steiner, born in 1939. Jean-François Steiner would later become a well-known author, particularly for his book Treblinka: The Revolt of an Extermination Camp, which became a critical piece in Holocaust literature.
As France fell and the Vichy regime took over, Cohen's situation became more dangerous. In 1941, he was held at the Compiègne detention camp, where he founded a group called Massada to support the creation of a Jewish state. After his release in 1942, he tried to use contacts within the Vichy Government to advance his political goals, showing his determination amid the desperate conditions faced by French Jews during the Occupation.
In early 1944, Cohen was arrested by the Gestapo and sent to Gleiwitz, a subcamp of the Auschwitz concentration camp in occupied Poland. He died there in June 1944 at the age of fifty-two. His death was part of the tragic losses of the Nazi genocide, ending a life filled with intellectual and community achievements.
Before Fame
Kadmi Cohen grew up in the dynamic and sometimes challenging world of early 1900s Eastern European Jewry. Born in Łódź in 1892, a bustling industrial city with a lively Jewish community, he was influenced by varying nationalistic ideas, the Zionist movement, and the hopes of Jewish communities trying to find their place in a changing Europe. As a young man, he moved to Palestine and got involved in early Zionist settlement efforts. Studying at Lyceum Herzliah in Tel Aviv, he absorbed the ideas fueling the movement for a Jewish homeland.
In 1914, Cohen's choice to join the French Foreign Legion was a pivotal moment, leading him to France. Many without a country or who were foreign-born joined the Legion to show loyalty to France, which for Cohen resulted in gaining French citizenship in 1920. After settling in Paris, he studied law and philosophy, gaining qualifications that helped him professionally and intellectually. His dedication to Zionism, legal expertise, and literary goals gave him a unique voice in French Jewish public life between the world wars.
Key Achievements
- Founded the Paris Union of Young Lawyers, an early professional organization for the legal community in France
- Defended a doctoral dissertation in philosophy in 1922 on the social and political institutions of Semitic peoples
- Contributed extensively to Mercure de France, one of France's most prestigious literary and intellectual journals, on Jewish and Zionist topics
- Founded the Massada group at Compiègne internment camp in 1941 to promote the cause of Jewish statehood under occupation
- Became a leading voice in France for Vladimir Jabotinsky's Revisionist Zionism during the interwar period
Did You Know?
- 01.Cohen volunteered for the French Foreign Legion in 1914 despite having no prior connection to France, and his wartime service was the direct basis for his French citizenship six years later.
- 02.While interned at the Compiègne camp in 1941, Cohen founded a clandestine group called Massada, named after the ancient Jewish fortress, dedicated to advocating for a Jewish state even under Nazi occupation.
- 03.His son Jean-François Steiner wrote Treblinka: The Revolt of an Extermination Camp, published in 1966, a book that sparked significant controversy in France and internationally over its portrayal of Jewish resistance and victimhood.
- 04.Cohen's 1922 doctoral dissertation examined the social and political institutions of Semitic peoples, situating his legal and philosophical work within a broader engagement with Jewish history and identity.
- 05.He was deported not to Auschwitz main camp but to Gleiwitz, one of the numerous subcamps in the Auschwitz network, located in Upper Silesia near the German border.