Chaim Cohn

Chaim Cohn was born in 1911 in Lübeck

Chaim Cohn was born in 1911 in Lübeck, Germany, to an Orthodox family. His grandfather on his mother's side was Rabbi Shlomo Carlebach, and his grandfather on his father's side was Rabbi Yosef Cohn. As a young man he was active in Agudath Israel and chaired its Hamburg branch.

He came to the Land of Israel and studied at the Mercaz HaRav yeshiva under Rabbi Abraham Isaac Kook. He then went back to Germany to study law and completed a doctorate at Frankfurt University. In 1933 he married Elisheva Benjamin, and they had 2 children.

After the Nazis rose to power in 1933, he settled in the Land of Israel for good. He was certified as a lawyer in 1936 and later opened an office in Jerusalem. Over time he left religious practice and became a declared secular Jew.

After Israel was founded, he headed the legislation department of the Ministry of Justice and served as State Attorney. He became director of the ministry in 1949 and Attorney General a year later, and in 1952 he was also Minister of Justice. As Attorney General he decided to indict Malchiel Gruenwald, which led to the Kastner trial.

In 1960 he was appointed to the Supreme Court and served until he retired in 1981. He also taught law at the Hebrew University and Tel Aviv University and wrote 5 books, including The Trial and Death of Jesus in 1968. He died in 2002.