“Corresponding Angles: The Story of a Survivor’s Son and a Liberator’s Daughter”

What began as a chance encounter between Gail Cohn and Reuben Sloan unfolded into an extraordinary revelation—one that connects their families across time and memory during history’s darkest chapters.

Near the end of World War II, Gail’s father, Judge Aaron Cohn, helped liberate Ebensee, a subcamp of the notorious Mauthausen concentration camp. Unbeknownst to him, among the survivors was the man who would one day become Reuben’s father.

Decades later, fate brought Gail and Reuben together, and what followed was a discovery neither could have imagined: their fathers’ lives had intersected in one of the Holocaust’s most pivotal moments.

Now, Gail and Reuben share their powerful, deeply personal journey—one that reminds us how courage, memory, and connection can transcend generations.

Join us for this unforgettable program, where history and humanity converge in a story that proves the past is never as distant as it seems.

We are deeply thankful to Tracy and Al Cohn for bringing this deeply personal story of Al’s grandfather to our community.

General Admission tickets are $18, and registration is required. Register below!

Thursday, September 18th, 2025, from 6:30-8:00 PM, Levite Jewish Community Center (3960 Montclair Rd, Birmingham, AL 35213)

About Our Speakers:

Gail Cohn

Gail Cohn has been a facilitator, speaker and workplace coach who has been doing business as LeaderShape Consultants for more than forty years.

She has also completed mediation training and extensive human resource development including classes sponsored by the American Management Association, Creative Training Techniques, University of Mississippi, The Einstein Consulting Group, and Georgia State’s Consortium on Negotiation and Conflict Resolution. In addition, Gail has facilitation certification from Learning International, Zinger Miller, Performax and the Anti-Defamation League’s “A World of Difference” program. She is also the former creator and host of a radio show called “Book Talk with Gail” on Radio Sandy Springs and an original member, by appointment of Governor Zell Miller, of the Georgia Human Relations Committee where she served for 8 years as well as being a past President of several non-profit entities.

As the daughter of American liberator Aaron Cohn, Gail feels a strong responsibility to share his story and keep his memory alive. Alongside Reuben Sloan, she tells his story, from fighting in General George Patton’s Third Armored Division, to becoming the longest-serving and oldest sitting Juvenile Court judge in America, and she shares the lessons of the Holocaust that she learned from him.

Dr. Reuben Sloan

Dr. Reuben Sloan is a physiatrist with more than two decades of experience specializing in spine care. He practices non-operative spine care, sports medicine, and electrodiagnostic medicine at Resurgens Orthopaedics in Atlanta, Georgia and serves as an Assistant Clinical Professor at Emory School of Medicine in the Department of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation. Dr. Sloan has also taught at the North American Spine Society’s Spine Injection Workshop and contributed research to medical textbooks and peer-reviewed journals. He is a member of many professional organizations including the American Academy of Pain Medicine, the North American Spine Society, and the International Pain & Spine Interventional Society. He earned his Bachelors of Science at UCLA and his MD degree at the University of California, Irvine.

Reuben is also the son of a Holocaust survivor, Icek Slodowski, who was imprisoned at Mauthausen and then liberated by American soldiers. Alongside Gail Cohn, he tells his father’s story of struggle and survival during the Holocaust and shares the lessons he learned from his father’s extraordinary life.