Zvi Cohen (Part 2): Playing to Survive in Theresienstadt Camp
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11m
Deported to Theresienstadt in May 1943, just before his twelfth birthday, Horst Cohn — who would later become Zvi Cohen — entered a world of hunger, disease, and daily death.
Presented by the Nazis as a “model Jewish settlement,” Theresienstadt was in reality a transit camp. Nearly 90,000 Jews were deported east to extermination camps, while tens of thousands died inside the ghetto.
Horst carried corpses, lost his grandparents to starvation, and endured brutal conditions. Once again, his harmonica helped him survive. Playing in the courtyards of SS officers alongside a boy from a Viennese choir, he earned crumbs of bread — often far more than his official ration — food that helped keep him alive. He later performed during the ghetto’s production of Brundibár, which the Nazis exploited for propaganda during the Red Cross visit.
In February 1945, he and his parents were selected for a rare transport to Switzerland — a “Train to Freedom” that rescued 1,200 prisoners.
After the war, Horst Cohn became Zvi Cohen, dedicating his life to remembrance. The harmonica that once delayed deportation and eased hunger became part of his lifelong testimony.
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