Auschwitz survivor shares her experience

This year marks the 70th anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz prison camp on January 27, 1945. Tova Friedman was one of the youngest of 7,000 prisoners found alive during the liberation, where six million people died at the hands of the Nazis.  

Friedman relived her memories of incarceration and liberation in the WGVU Public Media documentary production, “Surviving Auschwitz: Children of the Shoah.” Friedman will share her story during a special screening of the documentary on Thursday, January 15, from 6:30-8 p.m. in Loosemore Auditorium at the DeVos Center on the Pew Grand Rapids Campus.

 
Friedman was five years old when she was taken to Auschwitz, one of three young girls from a Jewish ghetto in the heart of Poland who were liberated from Adolf Hitler’s most notorious death camp. Friedman, along with Rachel Hyams and Frieda Tenenbaum, were found alive by a regiment of the Soviet army. In summer 2004, Tova and Tenenbaum traveled to Auschwitz, accompanied by their children and a WGVU film crew. They faced the sorrow and tragedy of their past and sought to heal the wounds felt through two generations.

Friedman said being able to tell her story to thousands of people over the years, has helped her cope with the sorrow of her past.