THE JEWISH

Page Twenty

Friday, June 8, 1945

NEWS

Lt. Ray Zussman's Father The Legend of Gen. Moishe '2-Gun' Cohen
To Receive Medal of Honor He Wants to Get Back to the Chinese Front

Nation's Highest Award to Be Presented at Ft. Knox, Ky.,
Mohr Recalls Meeting
-Iv Detroit Hero's Kin; Young Officer Killed Few
Famous Chinese General
Days After Heroic Achievements

In Canada 40-Yrs. Ago

Nathan Zussman of 2918 Sturtevant, 76-year-old father
Shortly before the United Na-
of the late Lt. Raymond Zussman, will be presented with. the tions Conference opened, in San
Congressional Medal. of Honor, which was ;posthumously Francisco, Morris Mohr, Detroit

furniture dealer and a leader in
orthodox circles, reminisced
about a man whom he befriend-
ed in Edmonton, Alberta, 40
years ago and who has since be-
come a world famous figure:
General Morris Abraham "Two-
Gun" Cohen.
Mr. Mohr recalled Moishe Co-
hen's arrival in. Edmonton, his
affiliation with the Edmonton
Capitol as an advertising solici-
tor, his interest in Jewish and
civic affairs.
"I gave him his first ad for my
furniture store for the Edmon-
ton Capitol," Mr. Mohr said, "and
I was proud to have befriended
him. From the very outset he
was a credit to his people and
to the community. He is a reli-
giously-conscious man. He al-
ways was a good conversation-
alist and a good platform speak-
er, and he is courageous. He has
a sense of humor, is fearless and
he soon proved his bravery when
he met Dr. Sun Yat Sen, and
became a leader in Chinese mili-
tary circles." * '* *

41111.

LATE LT. RAYMOND ZUSSMAN

awarded to his son for bravery in action, at ceremonies to-.
morrow--Saturday, June 9—at Fort Knox, Ky.
Lt. Zussman. was a 27-year-old tank corps officer who
distinguished himself in the
battle, for the village of Noroy al Medal Of Honor—which has
Le Bourg, in the Rhone Val- thus far been given to only two
ley. His death occurred a few other Detroiters and to only 118
days after his heroic partici- Americans, will be presented in
pation in this terrific strug- his son's name tomorrow, is a
veteran of the Russian-Japanese
gle.
war.

. Briefly, his bravery is de-
scribed as follows: He abandoned
his tank which was bogged in a
field of mud and moved ahead
of another tank on foot armed
only with a carbine. He person-
ally accounted for or directed
tank fire that resulted in the
death of 17 enemy soldiers, the
capture of 32, as well as the cap-
ture of two anti-tank guns, a flak
gun, two machine - guns and two
trucks.

-

Directs Second Tank

. He then attached himself to a
second General Sherman tank
And directed it through a booby-
trap road block. He spotted an
enemy machine gun nest and
under his direction the tank's
gunner blasted. the emplacement,
killing three Nazis and forcing
eight others to surrender.
. Still far from through, he
pointed out a German jeep and
soon three more Nazis were dead
and eight captured. Picking up
a tummy gun, he then dashed far
ahead of the tank, directing the
tank's fire at a house, capturing
20 more, prisoners, turning them
over to Yank infantrymen and
-returning to the house under a
hail of grenades. In the course
of his heroic work, he captured
Another 56 Nazi prisoners—his
-total haul rolling up to nearly

.

100.

Nation's Top Medal

. Lt. Zussman's brother, the late
Abraham Zussman who died re-
cently at the age of 52, was a
veteran of the last war. His
father, to whom the nation's
highest award—the Congression-

Pfc. S. Faigenbaum
Home for 60 Days
After Liberation

IN SAN FRANCISCO, we met
General "Moishe" Cohen who at
once became a favorite with all
who made his acquaintance.
He did not say much, but it
was apparent that he was close
to the Chinese delegation.
A British subject, born in Lon-
don, he came to Montreal 40
years ago.
He takes •pride in the fact
that during his residence in
China he was secretary of the
Kuomintang — being the only
non-Chinese member of that
party.
* * *
HE SPEAKS- with devotion of
his Jewish affiliations, empha-
sizes his adherence to Jewish
traditions as means of preserv-
ing Judaism, and maintains that
the reason Jew's disappeared in
China is because there was ab-
solutely no anti-Semitism there
at any time, giving Jews free-
dom to mingle and intermingle.
"Where there is persecution
religion is a consolation and a
source of comfort," he told us.
In November, 1943, Cohen was
among the group that was re-
patriated from Japan, aboard the
Swedish exchange liner Grips-
holm which docked in Port Eliz-
abeth, South Africa. He was
married in New York a little
more than a year ago.
* * *
AMONG THE MANY interest-
ing descriptions of "Two-Gun"
Cohen's career is the story "Two-
Gun Cohen of the Chinese Army:
A Thrilling True Story," written
by Michael O'Brien and publish-
ed by Nedor Publishing Co.
O'Brien writes:
The bombing of Pearl Harbor
was not the beginning of World
War II. Thirteen years ago Ja-
pan started out on. its "inspired"
mission to conquer and - rule the
world by taking over China.
The young republic of China was
weak, it had no army, it was al-
most defenseless. It should have
been easy. It would have been
easy—except for Chinese cour-
age, and such men as Two-Gun
Cohen.
He stalks through the epic of
China's war with Japan, a
square-shouldered,• powerful man
with mild gray eyes and two six-
shooters strapped to his hips. He
was aide-de-camp and bodyguard
to Sun-Yat-Sen, beloved first
president of China.
To millions of Chinese he is
Gen. Mah-Con, the name being
a typical Chinese shortening of
his real name, Morris Abra-
ham Cohen.
* * *

iJ ORRKE COWS WAS

ESORKON COMMACK
ROAD, to
Bit
04 1884 LONDON
•
AT 16
NE
CME
TO
CNIVA
TO SEEK MIS FoniuNE.
AFTER _sevERAL

CLERK, FARM

cotIEN AND DR. SUM

on Pages 17 • and lel,

BEWIE

NE SERVED AT THE MKS
MINISTRY OF NEAR
MD WAS ENTRUSTED
WITH SEVERAL SECRET
MISSIONS BY -CNIANCr
KAI-SHEK VINO.

SUCCEEDED DR. SUN

"B/4 IKE LATTERS vam.

441922 COHEN

WENT 70 CHINA
WHERE ME BECAME

AIDE-DE-CAMP TO
DR. SUN AND SOON
BECAME A POWER IN
ORIENTAL POLITICS —
HE HELPED TDORGANIZE
AND TRIM DR. SUM'S ARMY .

the Imperial Japanese troops for
13 years!
Talk about citizens of the
world—Cohen was born in Eng-
land of Jewish ancestry, is a
Canadian - citizen, talks with an
Irish accent and is a Chinese
general!
The Japs rightly considered
him a dangerous enemy, since it
was he who almost alone, built
the Chinese Army. When they
captured Hong Kong after Pearl
Harbor they caught Cohen there
and ,presently news came to
China that. Mah-Con had been
shot.
Like Mark Twain he might
have said, "The reports of my
death are greatly exaggerated."
For when the liner Gripsholm
carrying exchange passengers
froth Jap prisons docked , at New
York in 1943, General Cohen
was on board.
A Canadian official who was at
the dock was annoyed by ques-
tions about Cohen.
"There is no such person," he
sniffed. "A magazine made a
crack some time ago about Can-
ada producing two great generals
—McNaughton and Cohen. Co-
hen must be a gag. Who ever
heard of a Canadian being a gen-
eral in the Chinese. Army?"
"There is one". said the ques-
tioner.
The official finally went to
see for himself. He came back
looking very much upset, like a
man who has seen a ghost.
"There is a General Cohen," he
said. "He is in his cabin right
now and getting ready to go and
confer with the Prime Minister
of Canada. He is definitely not
a gag!"
* *
BORN IN the slums of London,
Morris Cohen spent his childhood
trying to get enough to eat. He
came to Canada at the age of 16.
At 20 he was manager of the
largest real estate firm in Can-
ada.
He met Dr. Sun-Yat-Sen, then
a refugee from his native land,
and became fired with enthus-
iasm over the plans for the first
Chinese Republic.
"If I can help," he said to the
Chinese scholar, "call on me!"
Sun-Yat-Sen went back to
China and in 1913 he sent for
Cohen to help him organize the
new republic. Cohen was just
ready to leave when World War
IT WAS General Mah-Con who I burst on an astonished world.
bought, begged,. borrowed and Cohen enlisted in the Canadian

Pfc. Sam Faigenbaum, who
fought with the 5th Ranger Bat-
talion, has returned home for a
60-day furlough
after being lib-
erated from a
German prison
camp. He is vis-
iting his parents,
M r. and Mrs.
Jacob Faigen-
baum of 2012
Pingree, and his
sister, Mrs. L
Levin.
A graduate of Pfc. Faigenbaum
Central High where he was a
member .of the swimming and
diving teams, he was attending
Wayne University as an engin-
eering student at the time of his
enlistment in February, 1943.
He went overseas the following
December and participated in the
invasion of Normandy on D-Day.
He has a brother, S/Sgt. Dave,
in the special service corp in
Jamacia.
Pfc. Faigenbaum addressed
the annual meeting of Detroit
Young Israel last Wednesday at
the Yeshivah on Dexter, and
stressed the value of religious
training offered by Young Israel.
He is engaged to Anita Litvin,
daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Her-
man Litvin of 18410 Wooding- wheedled planes and tanks and Army and was sent. to France
guns, who with bare hands •and with the Canadian 8th Engineers.
ham.

(Additional Servicemen's News

MRS AS

NAND AND REAL-
ESTATE
_ SPECULAT,
O
A R. NE CAME
TO 4.ALCAARY
PIET
, DR. SUN YAT SEN.

—Cut,
courtesy
Jewish
Post,
Indianapolis

handy. He was put in charge of
a Chinese labor battalion. He
served through the whole war.
* * *
THEN HE finished the trip he
had started - eight years before,
to become Sun-Yat-Seri's
borator and bodyguard. --
After Sun-Yat-Sen died hi
1925, Cohen worked just as close-
ly with Chiang Kai-shek, pre-
sent generalissimo of . the Chin-
ese forces. His job is a world-
wide one, getting the guns and
planes 'and_ tank which China
needs so desperately.
It is a bit of a mystery why
the Japs did not finish him off
when they had him at Hong
Kohg. But whatever the inside
story is, General Cohen will not
talk about his 21 months in a
Jap prison.
Perhaps the Cohen luck has
something to do with it. The
Japs were so anxious to catch
him that once in 1935 they stop-
ped a British cruiser on the tip
that Cohen was aboard. He was,
and just as the Japs were about
to come aboard, two British de-.
stroyers came boiling up. The
Jap commander signalled, "So
sorry—make mistake," and went
away in a hurry.
"My business," says Two-Gun
Cohen, "is back at the Chinese
front • where I hope they still
need me."
They do. The Japs are now
on the run. And it is the Eisem,
howers and MacArthurs — and
Cohens—who make them run!
—P.S.

-

267 Rabbis Serve
As U.S. Chaplains

Addition of 41 Jewish chap-
lains to the Armed Forces of
the United States, establishment
of hospitality committees in lib-
erated and occupied areas of
Europe and development of in-
creased facilities in the Pacific
war theater were announced as
the post V-E Day program of
the National Jewish Welfare
Board by Frank L. Weil, presi-
dent.
"There are now 267 Jewish
chaplains in the Army and
Navy," Mr. Weil said. "The Army
and Navy have requested an ad-
ditional 41 chaplains, reflecting
an expanding need for the spir-
itual services which they render
in the camps and in the field. In
all areas under Americah control
sweat and tears and blood help-
The Chinese he had learned chaplains serve as links between
ed to whip together all army of to speak in working with Sun- the men and women in service
Chinese farmers that has heg ott Yat - Sen's followers came in and their families."