by Joseph H. RADDER
The citation presented to Sydney Cole with his Prisoner of War
medal says, in part, “While serving as Chief Forward Observer for the 776th Field
Artillery Battalion, Captain Sydney Cole’s aircraft was hit by enemy anti-aircraft
fire and disabled. Captain Cole’s aviation skill and prior experience as a glider
pilot enabled him to place the aircraft in glide mode while he and his co-pilot struggled
to exit the aircraft. Captain Cole went to the aid of his comrade and forced him to
parachute safely behind friendly lines. In so doing, however, Captain Cole delayed his own
departure from the crippled aircraft enough so that he descended behind German lines.
During his descent, Captain Cole was fired upon by German troops and sustained multiple
gunshot wounds.”
What the citation doesn’t tell us is perhaps the most dramatic part of the story:
As soon as he landed Cole knew he must get rid of his dog tags, As Army veterans will
remember, dog tags carry an initial for the wearer’s religion...C for Catholic, P for
Protestant, H for Hebrew. Sydney Cole’s dog tags carried an H, revealing that he was
Jewish. Had he been captured with these dog tags around his neck he would have been sent
to a concentration camp and probably would have been subjected to torture, starvation, and
eventually a horrible death. “The smartest thing I ever did in my life was to throw
those dog tags as far into the woods as I could,” Cole said.
Perhaps his experience as a prisoner wasn’t as painful as it would have been if he
had been identified as Jewish, but it was anything but pleasant. The camp he was assigned
to was run by the Hitler Youth. “The most cruel people I have ever known,” Cole
said. He was kept for days in a cold cellar, was beaten, and finally taken to a Red Cross
tent where his wounds were treated. Cole and many other prisoners were then sent in box
cars for transfer to Stalag IVF. “Can you believe that? 4F?,” he laughed. A
British medical officer who was also on this trip was very helpful to Captain Cole in
treating his wounds. After many months the Germans deserted the camp and the Russians came
in and liberated Stalag IVF. A Russian doctor then treated Cole’s wounds.
After about 60 days, the Russians and Americans arranged a prisoner exchange and Sydney
Cole was finally able to take the first step on the long trip home. Meanwhile, however,
they came across a satellite of Auschwitz. The Germans had abandoned it, but its Jewish
prisoners, who had been awaiting execution, were still there. Cole and his friends fed
them soup, but weren’t always successful. One woman was so frail she died in Sydney
Cole’s arms while he was trying to feed her.
“Captain Cole’s heroism at the risk of his own life,” the citation says,
“his dedication to the principles of freedom, and his exemplary dedication to his
duty as an American fighting man, are in keeping with the highest traditions of the
American military and reflect great credit on him, his unit, and the United States
Army.”
Today, as if in gratitude for being spared from the holocaust, Sydney Cole keeps himself
in prime physical condition. He works out seven days a week, thirty-five minutes on the
treadmill daily, followed by another thirty-five minutes of vigorous swimming.
His wiry physique belies his 87 years. He could easily pass for a man of 60. Syd
Cole’s whole life has been athletic. He played handball for 48 years at the downtown
YMCA, and later at the BAC until death claimed all of his partners. In 1978 he took over
management of the BAC, following a career in the automobile business from 1946 to 1972 as
owner of Cole Motors.
Sydney Cole was born in New York City in 1914. He moved to Buffalo with his parents when
he was still very young. His father was in the business of restoring houses
architecturally. He had been called to Buffalo to do a Delaware Avenue mansion and found
so much demand for his skills here that he moved his family to Buffalo. His father died at
the very young age of 55, but his mother lived to be 92.
As a teenager in 1936, Syd Cole experienced one of the biggest disappointments of his
life. He had qualified as a swimmer on the U.S. Olympic team, but the Olympics were to be
held in Germany and were cancelled because of the increasing threat of war.
Coming home from that war after his imprisonment, Sydney Cole and Sybil Richard were
married. Rather than take a job working for somebody else, he decided to take advantage of
the pent-up demand for automobiles, and he opened Cole Motors on Main Street near Best. He
obtained a franchise for English Ford cars and also did a brisk business in used cars. In
1972 he was forced out of business when the City of Buffalo exercised its right of eminent
domain to buy his Main Street property for the Summer-Best Metro Rail station.
I wish we had several more pages to write about Sydney Cole. He certainly has had a full
life. In addition to the Prisoner of War medal he was awarded the Purple Heart, the Bronze
Star, the Caterpillar Club medal, and the Air medal. His North Buffalo home is full of
awards, plaques, and memorabilia of his interesting life. America owes much to heroes like
Captain
Sydney Cole.
Joseph H. Radder is a freelance writer.