Zalmen Mlotek: Guestbook

Gary J. Cohen

November 26, 2008

Dear Professor Mlotek,

I have just watched your lovely piece on the BBC World Service website, and was absolutely overjoyed. My grandfather, Isidore Cohen (by dint of Ellis Island; otherwise Itzahk Kogan, or Itziz Kahan, depending on whose manifest you discover), came to America from Dvinsk (now Daugavpils) via Hamburg some time around 1912. He came to have a small tailor shop on Rivington Street, selling notions, what-not, and the odd junk lot. If there was ever a song he must have sung to himself while working, it must have been "Ot Azoy Neyt A Shnayder".

His only son, my Dad, Arnold Cohen, is now 81, still working as a psychiatrist in White Plains, though he just had open-heart surgery at
NY-Presbyterian, and is recovering at Burke Rehab in White Plains. Tomorrow, when I go down to NY to visit, I am bringing my laptop to show him this lovely video that has been uploaded to news.bbc.co.uk : http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/in_depth/7739968.stm

I am sure it will bring a smile to his face. Last weekend on my visit, I brought with me Grandpa Cohen's old brass folding tailor's rule, still in its same leatherette pouch, which my Dad gave to me many years ago. When I showed it to him, he was overjoyed.

You dear man, thank you so very much for keeping the lamps burning. May you live long and have many joyous experiences. You've warmed my heart.

Zeh Gezunt!

Gary J. Cohen, ESL teacher, Boston