Benjamin Jacob Albert Sylvain Kahn

Benjamin Kahn, 86, Holocaust Survivor By dev -July 21, 2011 Ben Kahn, a longtime Pacific Palisades resident and founding member of Kehillat Israel synagogue in 1950, died on June 17. He was 86.   Ben was born August 24, 1924 in Amsterdam, the Netherlands, to Bernard Kahn and Judith Kalker. As a child, he found the early inspiration for his future occupation. In the company of his father, he often visited Schiphol Airport to watch airplanes take off and land. Fascinated at this early age with both the physics and the poetry of flight, Ben eventually built a 50-year career: engineering aircraft, including the X-15; working on the Mercury and Gemini manned space programs; and finally helping place in space various satellites (weather, communications, surveillance and navigation) for RCA, North American Aviation and the Aerospace Corporation. The challenges and joys of being part of the first wave of space exploration was a source of pride for Ben and patriotism for his adopted homeland.   Ben’s story of coming to America was a source of inner strength and never ceased to amaze his listeners. At 17, he escaped Nazi-occupied Holland after his father had perished in the Buchenwald death camp in 1942. Leaving his remaining family behind in hiding (a loophole in the law allowed boys under the age of 18 to leave), Ben traveled by train to Portugal and then by ship to Cuba. Once there, he completed high school, became fluent in Spanish and finally obtained a U.S. visa. In New York, he attempted to enlist in the U.S. Army, but was refused because of his flat feet; he then enlisted in the Dutch army (based in Great Britain during the war) and served as a communications specialist, landing in Normandy in the weeks after D-Day. After the war ended, Ben managed to return to Amsterdam, where he reunited with his mother, sister and brother, who had survived the war in a location and circumstances similar to those of Anne Frank.   Returning to America, Ben began the process of becoming a citizen, and built a life infused with a tremendous optimism and belief in the United States. He enrolled at UC Berkeley, graduated with a degree in physics and pursued graduate studies under Enrico Fermi and others. Ben also met his bride-to-be, Jean Doris Malkin, and they eventually settled in Pacific Palisades.   Ben was dedicated to service. In addition to his activism at Kehillat Israel, he was a Pacific Palisades Baseball Association assistant coach and served for many years on the board of the Palisades Democratic Club.   His sons Eric, Jory and Alan attended public schools in the Palisades. Today, Eric is an architect, Jory lives in Port Angeles, Washington and is training in the Feldenkrais Method, and Alan is a high school language-arts teacher in Seattle.   When Ben was eulogized by Rabbi Steven Carr Reuben during the service at Groman Eden Mortuary in Mission Hills (held June 23), Reuben stated, ‘Ben was a proud Zionist, proud Dutchman and proud Democrat,’ to which one could easily add proud Jew, proud American, proud husband and proud father.   In addition to Jean, his wife of 60 years, Ben is survived by his sons and in-laws, several grandchildren, and his older brother Gid’on Cohen of Israel. He was predeceased by his sister, Noemi Hamburger, who continued to live in Amsterdam until her death over a decade ago.