Selma Kahn was born on October 9, 1898 as the daughter of the cattle dealer Moses Lehmann and his wife Karoline Frank in Schaafheim in the Darmstadt-Dieburg district. 

On June 1, 1920, she married Berthold Kahn from Bischofsheim. The couple had three daughters: Karoline Hilde, born on November 15, 1920, and Ilse Brendel, born on December 25, 1922, both of whom were born in Bischofsheim, while their third daughter Rosel was born in Mainz on March 20, 1932.

From 1920, Selma Kahn worked in her husband's butcher's store in the center of Bischofsheim and was responsible for personnel matters. From 1933, she had to witness the systematic persecution of her husband by the National Socialists and the local group leader Eitel, which involved targeted actions and arrests. It was thanks to her that Berthold was able to escape the "meat affair" initiated against him: In August 1934, he had been accused of selling spoiled minced meat. Eitel had bribed two of his apprentices to mix maggots into the raw mixture. Selma Kahn had observed this and her testimony ultimately led to his acquittal.

In 1937, the family tried to emigrate to the USA. However, due to the strict entry quotas and the long waiting times for a visa, this was not a suitable solution. In the same year, they decided to flee to Luxembourg and sold their butcher's shop and house to Ernst Bechthold from Seeheim/Bergstraße for far less than they were worth. 

They bought a two-family house in the small village of Soleuvre near Esch-sur-Alzette. As the visa was delayed, the family had to live temporarily in the house of the wine merchant Liebenstein in Schulstrasse in Mainz. They were finally able to move on December 21, 1938 and lived from selling chickens, rabbits, milk and eggs. Their two daughters Hilde and Ilse were able to flee to England.

However, their stay in Luxembourg did not last long. After the invasion of German troops on May 10, 1940, the couple and their daughter Rosel had to flee to France. On the way to Metz, Selma and Rosel were separated from her husband and father. They were only reunited in a camp near Nimes in the south of France, but were deported to the Les Milles camp, an abandoned brick factory in Aix-en-Provence, on August 25, 1940. On April 4, 1942, the French Vichy government agreed to the deportation of the Jews from France and rumors of an imminent action prompted them to flee the camp. 

At first they lived illegally in a widow's apartment in Aix-en-Provence and from January 1943 until the liberation by the Allies in August 1944 with various farming families in Provence. 

Luxembourg was also liberated in September 1944 and on May 7, 1945, one day before the German surrender, Berthold Kahn, his wife Selma and their daughter Rosel returned to their home in Soleuvre.

After the visas were issued, Selma, Berthold and Rosel Kahn were able to move to the USA in January 1952. The whole family reunited there.

Selma Kahn died on December 14, 1968 at the age of 70 in Cobleskill, New York. She is buried in the Beth Israel Lower Cemetery in Rotterdam, New York.

(Bernd Schiffler)