Rabbi Romi Cohn, 91, OBM

By COLlive reporter

Rabbi Avraham Romi Cohn, who survived the Holocaust to lead a prosperous Jewish life in the United States, passed away Tuesday morning from Covid-19 complications.

He passed away on his 91st birthday.

Born in 1929 in the city of Pressburg, Czechoslovakia, Rabbi Avraham “Romi” Cohn grew up as a precocious child in a warm and caring family. His parents were successful in business and well known for their Tzedakah and Chesed. They often invited guests into their home and hosted local Yeshiva students who had no place else to go.

All that changed dramatically in 1942 when the Nazis invaded Czechoslovakia, determined to kill all of its Jews. Romi’s parents managed to smuggle him over the border to Hungary, which the Nazis had not yet invaded. For a while, young Romi was able to attend Pupa yeshiva.

But it wasn’t long before the Nazis came to Hungary, and that’s when Romi returned to his native country, Czechoslovakia, to join the underground. As a young partisan, he risked his life to help others. He was just sixteen years old yet he was instrumental in saving the lives of fifty-six families during the Holocaust and was later awarded the Silver Star Medal of Honor in recognition of his valor. The remarkable stories of his courage, his bravery, and his heroic endeavors during those horrific war years are recounted in his book, “The Youngest Partisan.”

Romi‘s mother, two sisters, and two brothers perished in a concentration camp during the Holocaust but he miraculously survived. In 1950 he left the blood-soaked soil of Eastern Europe and came to North America. He started out living in Canada but eventually moved to Brooklyn, where he met his wife Malvine.

VIDEO:

Romi began to work in the construction industry and became a successful developer. He headed a company that would build 3500 homes in the borough of Staten Island, and earn him the title of Vice President of the Home Builders Association and Director of the Chamber of Commerce in Staten Island.

His contributions to the community of Staten Island, both as a developer and as an unflagging witness to the horrors of the Holocaust, continue to this day. In recognition of his service to this community, Wagner College has awarded Romi Cohn an Honorary Doctor of Humane Letters.

Romi dedicated his life to sharing his blessings with others. Thirty-five years ago, he established “Keren Avraham HaKohen,” a scholarship foundation that supports outstanding Torah scholars and their families and it is still active. His foundation is a lifeline to countless brilliant students who are today exceptional Rabbinical leaders in their communities.

Most recently, Romi Cohn published a fascinating new book, The Ribnitzer Rebbe, which tells the story of his mentor, Rabbi Chaim Zanvil Abramovitz. The Ribnitzer Rebbe was a guiding force in Romi’s life. According to Romi, the Ribnitzer Rebbe taught him to develop the qualities of perseverance, patience, humility, and love of one’s fellow man.

For over 50 years, Cohn served as Chief Mohel of the Brit Milah Program of the organization F.R.E.E. (Friends of Refugees of Eastern Europe). The Lubavitcher Rebbe blessed him twice that “Avraham Avinu is at his right-hand side,” recalls Rabbi Mayer Okunov, Chairman of F.R.E.E. and Director of the Brit Milah Program.

According to Rabbi David Okunov, associate director of F.R.E.E. and the Brit Milah Program, Cohn dedicated his life on behalf of the Mitzvah of Bris Milah and circumcised over 15,000 adults and over 25,000 infants into the covenant of Abraham our forefather.

“He always refused payment for his service as a Mohel,” he said of Cohn. “He trained over a hundred aspiring young mohelim on the condition that they, too, perform their service without a fee.”

Amongst his students were the mohalim Rabbi Yisroel Heller and Rabbi Levi Heber of Crown Heights.

Cohn was the author of “Bris Avraham Hakohen” which serves as an internationally recognized comprehensive Sefer on Bris Milah and he serves as the Chairman of the American Board of Ritual Circumcision.

Just last month, On the 75th anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz, International Holocaust Remembrance Day, Rabbi Cohn delivered the opening prayer before the House of Representatives.

VIDEO:

Boruch Dayan Haemes