Becoming Edith

The Education of a Hidden Child

by Edith Mayer Cord

 Synopsis

This book is the story of a young girl caught up in the traumatic events of the Second World War and of the religious persecution at the hands of the Nazis during the German occupation of France. Born in Vienna, Austria, she moved to Italy, then to France with her family. What follows were the arrest and deportation of her father and her older brother, and then her own experience hiding first in a remote village in the South western part of France, then in various schools and a convent under an assumed name, ending with her flight to Switzerland with a group of teenagers with the help of a clandestine organization known as the Sixieme.

Deprived of schooling for 6 years, the story details her intense efforts in the post war years to get an education and to come to terms with this traumatic experience. She succeeded in this under very difficult conditions while living with the surviving parent whose behavior inflicted more pain. Edith completed her education in France, graduating from the University of Toulouse in 1952 before immigrating to America.

In the United States Edith taught French and German language and literature at a large state university in Pennsylvania (Indiana University of Pennsylvania). Eventually she changed career, earning her Certified Financial Planner designation in 1984. She worked as a broker and financial adviser until 2005. She now devotes herself to writing and public speaking.

Edith is married and has three grown children and several grandchildren.