THE JEWISH NEWS

Page Six

Friday,- July 9, I 943

Saga of Cohens Continues

Nationalism
In Music

4 More Battling Members
Of Tribe on War Fronts

By BEN SAMUEL

(Copyright, 1943, Jewish Telegraphic Agency, Inc.)

One good Cohen, it seems, de
serves another. The. tribe is still
leading on all fronts this week.

wife and five-year-old son, Ed-
ward, live in Mt. Vernon, N. V.
His brother, Joseph, is a sergeant
in the Signal Corps, training at
a Missouri camp.
"Fighting Surgeon"
Major Ephraim Cohen. has
come to be known as the "fight-
ing surgeon" from Minneapolis.
He was a crew member in
one of 12 Flying Fortresses
which destroyed two large enemy
transports at Buen - Tonolei,
near Kahili airport in the Solo-
mons. The bombing run had al-
ready been completed when Jap
zeros attacked the .formation.
Major Cohen took an active part
in the battle that followed, and
helped shoot down several Zeros
while he was about it, earning
the Air Medal for his efficiency
as an impromptu combat flier.
The major has also been cited
by his commanding officer for
his work as a doctor in the Solo-
mons.

Sgt. Julius Cohen, 33, fought
with the infantry at • Coral Sea
and New Caledonia, and was with
the ground troops at Bismarck
Sea. Then he was shipped to
Guadalcanal. On the way hiS
ship, a troopship, got into a
fracas with seven torpedo planes:
Only one of those enemy planes
got away. The others were shot
down.

Three weeks ago, Sgt. Sidney
Cohen, London R. A. F. pilot,
"captured" Lampedusa, and Sgt.
Irving Cohen was on his way
home to Brooklyn, N. Y., after
raiding Europe a dozen times as
an R.C.A.F. turret gunner. Well,
Once on Guadalcanal, Sgt.
four new battling Cohens have
Cohen went through five weekS
of incessant bombing.
turned up since then.
"The bombing was still going
Lt. Vernon Henry Cohen, of
on when I left," he says.
Britain's road-building Pioneer
The sergeant left because a
Corps, just won the George
tropical disease he had caught on
the island was menacing niS
Medal for heroism in North Af-
sight. He was shipped to Percy
rica. Capt. Moses Cohen, of the
Jones'Hospital in Michigan for
Bronx, N. Y., haS received the
treatment that averted blindness.
Army Silver Star for "courage"'
He has fully recovered now, and
and "fearlessness" on the African
hopes to see more action when
front. Major Ephraim B. Cohen
his sick leave ends.
of Minneapolis, Minn., won the
Air Medal for his achievements
- Veneeance Near
as a volunteer crew member dur-
If
you
want the opinion of this
ing a Flying Fortress raid in the
warring member of the priestly
Southwest Pacific. And Sgt.
Julius Cohen arrived home in
"As a result of your efforts," tribe of Cohen, Sgt. Cohen pre-
Hartford, Conn., recently to the citation said, "the health of dicts that the Japs will die fight-
convalesce from a siege of tropi- this command has been better ing rather than give up. He
cal fever he caught in the South than could be expected in the thinks they are near the end of
Pacific, where he fought the Japs tropics.. Your energy and deter- their rope, though, and that the
for eight months.
mination are highly appreciated." day of vengeance for their
treachery at Pearl Harbor is not
Major Cohen joined up in far off.
Hero of Two Wars
August,
1939.
He
was
a
flight
Like his namesake, Sidney
In case you doubt it, just look
(King-of-Lampedusa) C o h e n, surgeon at Hickam Field for a in the nearest city directory un-
while
before
things
began
pop-
Vernon is a Londoner. At • 48, he
volunteered for the road-build- ping in the Solomons. He would der C-o-h-e-n. There is your an-
ing Corps, and was shipped to like to see his 23 - month - old swer: the enemy is outnumbered
the dark continent as leader of daughter, Barbara Sue, and his —by an army of battling Coha-
wife, who is living with her nim who are out to make sure
his detachment.
parents in Winnipeg.
the United Nations win.
Fire broke out one day near an
ammunition dump. As the flames
spread, they threatened a large
consignment of beach mines, de-
tonators, torpedoes, and 25-pound
shells. Lt. Cohen got between his
men and the shells before the
explosives could go off. Disre-
garding all danger to himself, he
quenched the flames before they
could reach the mines. Several
shells did explode, but the mines
were saved. Lt. Cohen had
averted heavy loss of life and
severe disorganization of the
work in that area.
This is Vernon Cohen's second
war. Born in Melbourne, he
served with the Australians dur-
ing World War I, and was
wounded in action in France.
After the armistice he went to
London and became a successful
businessman. Now he's a hero.
Courageous Army Doctor
Capt. Moses Cohen, an army
doctor, made a nine-mile dash
into enemy-occupied territory
"somewhere in North Africa" to
get medical supplies. The route
was covered by fire from enemy
snipers. Machine guns endanger-
ed every inch of the way. ignor-
ing all considerations but the
welfare of his patients, Capt.
Cohen plunged straight through
the inferno of enemy fire and re-.
trieved his supplies.
On another occasion, Capt.
Cohen's battalion was trapped by
the enemy. But Capt. Cohen
would take no cognizance of the
word "surrounded:" All that in-
terested him were these supplies.
Somehow he broke through the
enemy lines and :ina-naged 16
reach a U. S. medical supply
dump, 'which was not in enemy
hands. Once again, he return.:.d
with his equipment and went to
work treating the wounded.
Gets Silver Star
The army has presented Capt.
Cohen with a Silver Star for his
In commemoration of the 25th anniversary of the
"courage, fearlessness and de-
Balfour Declaration, dated Nov. 2, 1917, the eminent
votion," which, the citations note,
artist, Arthur Szyk, has executed a magnificent illumina-
were "meritorious and a credit
to the armed forces."
tion of the historic document in English and Hebrew. The
Capt. Cohen is a graduate of
original, dcne in rich. colors, is owned by Charles J.
City Colley in New York and
Rosenbloom
of Pittsburgh, treasurer of the United
of the UniverSity of Vienna. Be-
fore the war he had a private
Palestine Appeal; by whose courtesy the facsimile is here
practice in 1Ve ,:Yoxl~±:
,His- _ reproduced.

By KARL W. HAAS

(Organist, Temple Israel, Detroit)

One of the most heartfelt con-
victions in these grave days is
patriotism. It is patriotism which
enables us to endure hardships
caused by the war, to make un-
usual sacrifices, and to adjust
our way of living. Patriotism is
shown in many fields, among
them art in general, and music
in particular.
To use music for patriotic pur-
poses presupposes the presence
of specific nationalistic features
in music. Is there such a thing
as nationalism in music and of
what does it consist? •
Based on Folklore
National music is music based
upon the folklore, the tempera-
ment, and the tonal characteris-
tics of a nation. Take, for ex-
ample, Sibelius' Finlandia, which
represents excellently the mel-
ancholic spirit of the open, wint-
ery plains of Finland. Take.
Liszt's Hungarian Rhapsodies,
which represent the lively, gyp-
sy-like folklore of Hungary. The
works of any of the great Ger-
man composers, for instance
Brahms or Beethoven, bear the
distinct mark of the classic
spirit of the Germany of former
days. Olir own Jewish music
has the imprint of religious mo-
tives and the suffering through
centuries of Jewish history.
Nationalism in music definite-
ly exists and may be recognized
as such, just as we recognize
landscapes of certain countries
in paintings. As a matter of
fact, national, music is not ab-
stract, but descriptive music, em-
ploying certain rhythmic ele-.
ments or harmonic progressions
as tools with which to express
the subject at, hand.

So it is perfectly justified to
use national music for patriotic
purposes and it is done quite
frequently these days. Russian
music is used on Russian war
relief programs; the works 'of
English composers are played on
English war programs; George
Gershwin, Victor Herbert, Deems
Taylor are represented on Amer-
ican programs.
America's Privilege
We in America have the priv-
ilege of listening to any music
which we think is worth our at-.
tention. This privilege cannot be
enjoyed by the people of enemy
countries. Mendelssohn's music
is forbidden in Germany, be:
cause he was a Jew; the opera
Carmen used to be forbidden,
because it was written by a
Frenchman; Tschaikowsky's
music is forbidden, because he
was a Russian. • In other words,
our enemies try to regiment the
spirit of their people by serving
them their own national music
only, and by forbidding the
musical products of any other
country. National music thus is
used to an extreme.
This writer cannot help mak-
ing the observation, that there is
nothing more universal than
music. Therefore, music does not
have to bear the stamp of its
creator's nationality. It is just
the fact, that the Moonlight
Sonata is loved by Americans as
well as by Belgians and Italians,
that makes it a great work of
music. Great music belongs to
the world,• and the world is not
primarily interested in the name
and address of the man who
wrote it.

Balfour Declaration Depicted in Szyk Painting

•• •

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45

rEARps.

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•

Mr. Szyk is one of the outstanding artists in the world
"today. His satirical cartoons are used by the most import-
ant journals in America.

A recent arrival in 'the United States from Poland,
Mr. Szyk has had his 'works exhibited throughout the
country.

Recently, the JeWish Community Center of Detroit
devoted an - entire art exhibit to the works. of Mr. Szyk.