Henry Cohen (civil servant)

Henry Cohen (1922-1999) was the director of Föhrenwald, the third largest Displaced Persons camp in the American sector of post-WWII Germany in 1946. A native of New York City and a child of Jewish immigrants from the Vilna area of Lithuania, Cohen was a graduate of City College of New York. During World War II he served as an infantryman in the U.S. Army, and was 23 years old when he was appointed Director of Föhrenwald.

He later earned a master's degree in Urban Planning from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, then served as Director of Research of the New York City Planning Department and Deputy City Administrator of New York City during the Administration of Robert F. Wagner, Jr.. Later he was First Deputy Administrator of the New York Human Resources Administration during the John Lindsay Administration.

After leaving the city government, Cohen became the Founding Dean of the Milano School for Management and Urban Policy at the The New School. He died in 1999 at the age of 77, leaving a son and two grandchildren.

Early life

Cohen was born in New York City of parents who immigrated from a shtetl in the vicinity of Vilna. He graduated from Thomas Jefferson High School in Brooklyn, the City College of New York and received a Masters Degree in Urban Planning from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

Army service

Prior to his appointment to the post in January 1946, Cohen served in the infantry of the U.S. Army, fighting in the Battle of the Bulge and crossing the Bridge at Remagen. Following the German surrender he was assigned to military administration.

Föhrenwald

He was 23 years old when he undertook the Directorship, aided by a multinational team from the UNRRA.By then, had an exclusively Jewish population, comprising 5,600 refugees who had survived the Holocaust.

Cohen was known for his efforts to ensure favorable living conditions for the camp's residents. This included providing for Jewish religious observance and supporting the activities of Zionist political parties and youth movements. He worked in conjunction with a democratically elected Camp Committee that granted a degree of administrative autonomy to its residents. The camp sponsored rehabilitation activities that included schooling for children, adult education and vocational training, and a thriving cultural life with musical and theatrical performances, and the publication of a weekly newspaper. Besides coping with the extensive demands of maintaining the camp's physical conditions, particularly sanitation, Cohen endeavored to contain the black market trade that was of particular concern to the American army administration in the sector.

Conflict with the Army

During his tenure, Cohen became aware of what he considered widespread anti-Semitism among US army personnel, including expressions of such attitudes in official administrative reports. An incident in May 1946, involving GIs who reportedly threatened several Jewish camp residents visiting in the nearby town of Wolfratshausen, provoked a riot by several hundred camp residents, who surged forth from the camp, heading for the town. Cohen and his staff succeeded in quelling the riot, but nevertheless evoked the animosity of the American army. An operations report filed on July 23, 1946, by the 9th Infantry Division Asst. Chief of Staff, accuses Cohen of incitement, though fails to mention any impropriety on the part of American soldiers. The recurring friction between the Army and Cohen prompted a campaign for his eventual removal from the director's post.

ervice to New York City

After returning to the USA, he received a Masters in Urban Planning from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, then served as Director of Research of the New York City Planning Department. He was Deputy City Administrator of New York City during the Wagner Administration. Later he was First Deputy Administrator of the New York Human Resources Administration during the Lindsay Administration.

Later years

After leaving the city government, Cohen became the Founding Dean of the Milano School for Management and Urban Policy at the The New School.

External links

* [http://www.remember.org/witness/cohen.html Talk (1996) by Henry Cohen, on his experiences as director of the Föhrenwald DP camp]
* [http://www.ushmm.org/wlc/en/index.php?ModuleId=10007059&Type=normal+article|Foehrenwald Article at US Holocaust Memorial Museum]