Gus Cohen's British Pathé Interview

Gershon 'Gus' Cohen

Third-class passenger

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Gus Cohen:
We were sleeping six in a bunk and we were treated like as if we were in a third class restaurant in regards to the food. We were not allowed to go into any part of the ship except that the deck that we were allowed to go on.

I found a lifebelt in one of the cabins, the first class cabins. I put this on, not securely, and I was walking aimlessly on deck thinking of what I should do next. And looking over the the side, I saw the boats being lowered for the survivors and it was women and children first so I had no chance there. While I was looking over the side of the boat, one of the crew in the lifeboats shouted out to me and said, "Jump." Well I didn't actually jump off of the boat. I crawled across the davits, came down the falls, dropped in the water, and I was picked up by the boat that returned to pick me up.

Interviewer:
You know, when we look at the figures, there were less people saved from the steerage class –

Gus Cohen:
That's right.

Interviewer:
– than they were from the first class.

Gus Cohen:
Because they weren't allowed to go on the first class deck.

Interviewer:
And that was the only way one could be saved.

Gus Cohen:
Yes.

Interviewer:
Did the band actually play music while the ship went down?

Gus Cohen:
No. I heard the band playing when the boat struck, when I first tried to get on deck, but when I decided to jump off the boat, I actually saw the band standing about with their instruments.