Frieda Rung

Frieda Rung was born in 1880 and lived in a middle class town in Berlin and worked as saleswoman. In 1918 she met Hellmuth Cohn, born in 1895, and had contact with him, his mother and his wife.
At the beginning of the National Socialist era, Hellmut Cohn was not persecuted due to the fact that his wife was not a Jew. When the repression got worse she, however, divorced him. Even more, in 1939 Hellmut Cohn’s wife reported him to the police for ”crime against race”, that according to the Nuremberg laws was sanctioned and in many cases punished with the deportation to a concentration camp. Since then, Hellmut Cohn ran away from the Gestapo. His three children got away from their father and broke any contact with him.
Frieda Rung accommodated Hellmut Cohn at her place, in spite of that the police had called and interrogated her too, because Mrs. Cohn had declared that Hellmut Cohn had also committed a crime against race with Frieda. Nevertheless, the case against her was finally dropped. Because of this danger and as he had no false documents, Hellmut Cohn never left the small apartment. When she lost her job in 1939, Frieda Rung had to sell part of her jewels and furniture to feed both of them. In 1940 she found a new job in a patisserie.
When, as of 1943 the bombings increased they dared take shelter in the public bunkers, where no ID was required. Hellmut Cohn stayed until the end of the war at Frieda Rung’s apartment, and even after they kept on sharing the apartment for a long time.