Regina Kohn, a teacher of music, literally played her way into the country when by her rendition of Schumann’s “Traumerei” on her violin before a special Board of Inquiry at Ellis Island convinced the authorities that Regina Kohn was entitled to classification as an artist, and won her admission to the United States. She had been threatened with deportation because the Rumanian quota was exhausted when she arrived Monday on the Celtic. Miss Kohen is a Hungarian, but the part of Hungary in which she always lived is now occupied by Rumania and its habitants are classified as Rumanians under the immigration regulations.
Her case came up before the board Wednesday and Miss Kohn was informed by the Chairman that if she could play well enough she would be admitted as an artist, if not she would be deported. Feeling as if she had “one foot in America, the other in Europe,” as she expressed it yesterday, she played the composition so artistically on a violin she had with her that she was told she could enter at once. So feelingly did she play that she broke down and wept in the midst of the piece, but controlled herself well enough to finish.
She intends to open a studio here and possibly give concerts or go on the stage. She will live with her brother, Ignatz Kohn, at 1475 Second Avenue.
The Archive of the Jewish Telegraphic Agency includes articles published from 1923 to 2008. Archive stories reflect the journalistic standards and practices of the time they were published.
