Leny Cohen Heymann
Magdalena Emma Cohen, called Leny, was born in Deventer in 1931, the daughter of Dr. Johan Cohen and Ella Pauline Polak and the older sister of Hans. In the summer of 1942, when she was 11, the family went into hiding, each of them separately. Leny was hidden by two ministers’ families in Friesland until the liberation in 1945. Her parents survived; Hans was betrayed and murdered at Auschwitz.
After the war Leny moved to the United States, studied at Berkeley, married and raised a family. She lives in California and has spoken about her time as a hidden child for many years.
Documents
- Leny’s video testimony, 1998USC Shoah Foundation Visual History Archive. The video can be watched at subscribing institutions.
- “Local Holocaust survivor reaches out to Girl Scouts with a message”Davis Enterprise, October 29, 2020
On this site
- Cohen Family and DeventerHer parents, her brother Hans, and Deventer
- The Etty Hillesum Center in DeventerResearch notes on the family, including where Leny was hidden, and family photographs
- Shamanic JourneyThe family’s story, and a visit with Leny in California
- de Kadt Family and LeeuwardenHer aunt Bertie’s family; Leny remembers their dog’s name, Puck