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Arthur Kohn
Arthur Kohn
Arthur Kohn, born Avraham Moshe Ben Asher Selig, came into the world in 1937 in Kosice, Czechoslovakia. His father, Asher Selig Kohn, was bornin Shatra Eywhal, Hungary, to Dvora and Sholom Kohn, a fish dealer. His mother, Frumet (Blumenkarantz) Kohn, was born in Kosice, where her family owned a textile business.
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Arthur had three siblings: Esther Malka, Shmuel Aharon, and Yosef Chaim Elazar, who later became a student of the Munkatch Rav.
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As a young man, Arthur’s father studied at the Moshe Feurhend Yeshiva in Mako, a city known as the onion capital. While studying, a matchmaker (shadchan) arranged his marriage to Frumet. Her parents agreed to provide the couple with one meal a day and business opportunities. After their marriage, Asher became a successful traveling exotic fruits businessman.
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Before the war, Arthur's uncle Michel, his father's brother from Ewyhel, was hired as a private cheder tutor for Arthur due to Michel’s financial need. The family lived in a large house in Kosice, which was a center for the Jewish community. However, antisemitism was already present before the war. Arthur's maternal aunt was called a “dirty Jew” and emigrated to Palestine as a young, single woman.
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His father’s business in Kosice was also shut down after a competitor reported to authorities that Asher was Hungarian, not Slovakian. Asa result, the family moved to Ewyhel, where Asher opened a business under his grandfather’s business license. Their new store displayed the name “Solomon Kohn” prominently on the building's exterior. Arthur was four years old when the family left Kosice.
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In 1942, the Nazis occupied Kosice. The family was forced to move into the ghetto, where they lived with an aunt, a relative of Arthur’s future wife, who would later pay for their wedding after the war. During this time, Arthur’s father cut his beard and hair to avoid being recognized and bribed the Germans to hide Jews in ammunition trucks on three separate transports out of the ghetto. However, he was eventually caught and sent back.
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German soldiers entered the ghetto, set up a card table, and began interviewing Jews, separating women and children from those 13 years and older. Arthur’s mother, who spoke German well, convinced the soldiers to allow her to stay with her children.
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Arthur’s father was locked up and sent to a concentration camp by cattle train. Pretending to be sick, he asked to be held up to the train window and then jumped out, managing to escape. After regaining consciousness, he explained to passersby that he had been in a bike accident. A former employee helped him, and eventually, he made his way back to Budapest, where he worked in the underground market.
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Arthur’s father arranged for each of his children to hide with a righteous gentile named Gaiza. Gaiza’s stepfather was a Nazi collaborator who had no idea his stepson was hiding Jews in their own home. Gaiza’s friend owned a restaurant where Jews were hidden in empty wine barrels in the basement.
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Arthur recalls hiding there for a few months in a box of potatoes. He remembers being terrified during bombings and clutching a silver holder he believed to be a mezuzah, only to later learn it was a cross.
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During this period of hiding, Arthur attended church at Christmas, learned hymns, and even wanted to be baptized. He also recalls a common song about “chopping up Jews” being sung in town. After some time, Arthur was sent to live with Gaiza’s cousin, who was newly married. He enjoyed his time there, often making fishing rods out of needles and sticks, and spent his days roaming around and fishing.
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Arthur also remembers another child who would visit and steal from Gaiza’s cousin. This boy bullied Arthur, pushing and cursing at him, and would sit on a fence taunting him. The boy was later killed by a bomb while sitting on that same fence. Arthur continued to live with Gaiza’s cousin and his wife until the end of the war, when he was around seven or eight years old.
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After the war, Arthur’s uncle in Chicago helped the family immigrate to the United States. Arthur was 10 years old when he arrived in Chicago, where he had his bar mitzvah a year later at Anshe Motele. He briefly attended Tellz Yeshiva before switching to Ida Crown.
Later in life, Arthur met his wife Charlotte, became a doctor, and together they had six children—three boys and three girls.
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The End
Arthur Kohn interview at Fasman Yeshiva High School - 2023-2024
Fasman Yeshiva High School
