"Two-Gun" Cohen's Tomb in Manchester

By Rena Krasno

Morris Cohen, nicknamed '2-Gun Cohen' was the only foreigner ever to become a member of China's ruling party - the Kuo-mintang.

As a young man in Canada, Cohen became fascinated with the ideas of Chinese revolutionaries, whose great hero was Dr. Sun Yat-Sen. '2-Gun' met the famous leader in person, and became his lifelong admirer. In recognition of Cohen's devotion, Dr. Sun appointed him his aide-de-camp with the rank of colonel. Cohen helped procure weapons and smuggle them into China for the struggle against corrupt feudal lords.

After Dr. Sun Yat-Sen's death, the Legislative Yuan promoted Cohen to the rank of General and he became a confidant of some of the most powerful men in China, among whom was Dr. Sun's son, Sun Fo. Since his reputation for integrity was unimpeachable, he was entrusted with protection of the government's gold bullion and the purchase of arms, military vehicles and even planes.

The Japanese viewed General Cohen with suspicion and later hatred for the following reason: during the Sino-Japanese war, Japan was accused of using poison gas against the Chinese population, a fact they indignantly denied. However, Cohen was able to get hold of a Japanese gas cylinder and prove the Japanese officials to be liars - something they never forgot or forgave. During World War II, in 1943, Cohen mysteriously reached Hongkong from Shanghai, in an attempt to rescue Mme. Sun Yat-Sen. Mme. Sun had established there the China Defense League, an umbrella organization for charitable, medical and welfare programs. She was now in danger from the Japanese who had conquered the island. The Japanese authorities soon found out about Cohen's arrival and arrested him. They interned him in a concentration camp, which he survived. Years later, when questioned about his foolhardy Hongkong operation, Cohen explained: "I felt this might be the last service I could do for Dr. Sun."

"Two Gun" had both critics and fans. My father, David Rabinovich, Hon. Secretary of the Shanghai Ashkenazi Jewish Community, met Cohen in Shanghai and mentioned his eagerness to help Jews in critical times of world turmoil. There was no doubt that the welfare of the Jewish people was always very close to Cohen's heart. In fact, he loved both the Chinese and the Jews and often spoke of the similarities between them.

Judith Ben-Eliezer, the beautiful young leader of the Shanghai Zionist organization, Betar, knew Cohen well. In her book Shanghai Lost, Jerusalem Regained (Steimazky, Jerusalem, 1985), she writes:

"Cohen was very proud of his Jewish heritage. He was touched when he saw the Jewish flag carried high about the Betar marchers and, being an uninhibited extrovert, he burst out in loud approval . . . He broke into a broad smile that lit up his face and grey eyes. The transformation was complete. His toughness gave way to warmth, generosity and kindness which were his basic characteristics . . . "

Cohen's admirers quickly come to his defense when some of his actions are criticized. One such supporter is a loyal member of the Sino-Judaic Institute, Michael Alderton of Australia with whom we have the pleasure to correspond. He recently sent us a photograph of "Two-Gun" Cohen's tomb in the Blakely Jewish Cemetery of Manchester. Mr. Alderton writes:

"My layman's impression of this burial site is that it is an old, rather egalitarian, tightly packed, highly regulated and austere looking Jewish cemetery completely surrounded by a high brick wall. However, in spite of the overall uniformity and dignified somberness of its surroundings, General Cohen's tall, black tombstone, topped with the blessing hands symbol of the Kohanim and graced with an inscription penned in Chinese characters by the grateful hand of Mme. Sun Yat-Sen, somehow manages to stand out clearly."

We have now sent on this photograph for inclusion in the Sino-Judaic files at the Hoover Institution Archives.

Mr. Alderton further adds some rather poignant memories:

" . . . I personally remember the General Cohen of my childhood as being a very caring, rather serious-minded and impeccably dressed elderly Jewish gentleman who was treated with admiration, affection and respect by all, including my own late father, who knew him well. Upon contemplating this Sino-Judaic tombstone, I felt that these must have been the exact sentiments of his co-religionists who laid him to rest, as well as those of Mme. Sun Yat-Sen who, on behalf of a grateful nation, graciously composed an epitaph in honor of this great man's memory."