Colonel Frank Cohn was a brave and resilient soldier who escaped the Holocaust and then returned to Europe during World War II in service for the United States. His long life is an inspiration. Cohn died on July 4, 2026, at 100 years old.
He was born to Jewish parents Martin Cohn and Ruth Potlitzer Cohn in Breslau, Germany on August 2, 1925. Though he lived a comfortable life, there was growing antisemitism as the Nazi Party gained power. As a young boy, even before Hitler took office, Cohn would hear of incidents of Jews being beaten for being Jewish or see antisemitic graffiti on the streets. Cohn’s family owned a sporting goods store, and he described stormtroopers demonstrating in front, saying “Don’t buy from Jews.” His father was able to sell the store for a good price, but as new laws were enacted which discriminated against the Jews, it was increasingly challenging to find work. In 1938, just after Cohn’s bar mitzvah, Cohn’s father could no longer support the family financially and left for the United States. Still in Germany, Cohn and his mother were visited by a British woman who they identified as a gestapo informant. In October 1938, at 13-years-old, Cohn left Germany with his mother to join his father in the United States.
“I felt very good because I was no longer a victim at this point, I was in charge.”
Cohn was drafted in September of 1943 at 18 years old. He was sent back to Europe with the Army, went to England, France, and Belgium, and fought in the Battle of the Bulge during World War II. During the Battle of the Bulge he was tasked with finding German infiltrators in American uniforms. He was drawn into an intelligence position due to his knowledge of German language and culture. “I felt very good because I was no longer a victim at this point, I was in charge,” he said at a recent NMAJMH program. Cohn jokingly remembered the bad weather he experienced during the Battle of the Bulge. He then served in campaigns in Rhineland and Central Europe as part of an Interrogator Prisoner of War Team within the Intelligence unit T-Force of the 12th Army Group.
Following World War II, Cohn went to school and earned his bachelor’s degree in psychology and education from the City College of New York. He continued his service in the Army as Military Police, and he later earned a master’s degree in police administration from Michigan State University. He was a assigned several important duties, including coordinating security for President Jimmy Carter’s inauguration. He traveled the world during his service, including to Vietnam. He served in the U.S. Army for 35 years and retired in 1978 as a colonel in the role of Chief of Staff of the Military District of Washington.
In 1948, he married his wife, Paula, and the two had a daughter, Laura.
Cohn was a valued member of the Jewish War Veterans of the USA and participated in many events with the National Museum of American Jewish Military History. In May of 2025, he spoke at the “100 and going strong” program, and just last month, he spoke as a part of a panel for the “Jewish Heroes of the Revolution and the Ongoing Legacy of Religious Freedom” program held at the museum. Cohn will be missed by the NMAJMH community.
Top photo: Portrait photo of S/Sgt Frank Cohn in uniform at discharge, 1946.