Joseph Friedenson ( yi, יוסף פֿרידענזאָן, 1922–2013) was a

Holocaust survivor Holocaust survivors are people who survived the Holocaust, defined as the persecution and attempted annihilation of the Jews by Nazi Germany and its allies before and during World War II in Europe and North Africa. There is no universally accep ...

, Holocaust historian,

Yiddish Yiddish (, or , ''yidish'' or ''idish'', , ; , ''Yidish-Taytsh'', ) is a West Germanic language historically spoken by Ashkenazi Jews. It originated during the 9th century in Central Europe, providing the nascent Ashkenazi community with a ve ...

writer, lecturer, and editor of '. Friedenson was born in

Łódź Łódź, also rendered in English as Lodz, is a city in central Poland and a former industrial centre. It is the capital of Łódź Voivodeship, and is located approximately south-west of Warsaw. The city's coat of arms is an example of cant ...

Poland Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It is divided into 16 administrative provinces called voivodeships, covering an area of . Poland has a population of over 38 million and is the fifth-most populou ...

in April, 1922, to Rabbi Eliezer Gershon, an activist for Agudath Israel of Poland and the editor of the ''Beth Jacob'' Journal, curricula used throughout the

Bais Yaakov Bais Yaakov ( he, בית יעקב also Beis Yaakov, Beit Yaakov, Beth Jacob or Beys Yankev; lit., House fJacob) is a genericized name for full-time Haredi Jewish elementary and secondary schools for Jewish girls throughout the world. Bais Yaa ...

movement in pre-World War II Europe. When World War II broke out, Friedenson's family fled to

Warsaw Warsaw ( pl, Warszawa, ), officially the Capital City of Warsaw,, abbreviation: ''m.st. Warszawa'' is the capital and largest city of Poland. The metropolis stands on the River Vistula in east-central Poland, and its population is officia ...

, eventually becoming prisoners of the

Warsaw Ghetto The Warsaw Ghetto (german: Warschauer Ghetto, officially , "Jewish Residential District in Warsaw"; pl, getto warszawskie) was the largest of the Nazi ghettos during World War II and the Holocaust. It was established in November 1940 by the G ...

where Joseph married Gittel Leah Zilberman of Szydłowiec. They were smuggled out of the ghetto and subsequently ended up spending several years in the slave labor camp of Starchowicz, before it was liquidated. The family arrived at Auschwitz in July 1944. Joseph endured

death marches A death march is a forced march of prisoners of war or other captives or deportees in which individuals are left to die along the way. It is distinguished in this way from simple prisoner transport via foot march. Article 19 of the Geneva Conven ...

, confinement in

Ohrdruf Ohrdruf () is a small town in the district of Gotha in the German state of Thuringia. It lies some 30 km southwest of Erfurt at the foot of the northern slope of the Thuringian Forest. The former municipalities Crawinkel, Gräfenhain an ...

and several other concentration camps, and was finally liberated from

Buchenwald Buchenwald (; literally 'beech forest') was a Nazi concentration camp established on hill near Weimar, Germany, in July 1937. It was one of the first and the largest of the concentration camps within Germany's 1937 borders. Many actual or sus ...

in April, 1945, by the

United States Army The United States Army (USA) is the land warfare, land military branch, service branch of the United States Armed Forces. It is one of the eight Uniformed services of the United States, U.S. uniformed services, and is designated as the Army o ...

. Mrs. Friedenson remained in Auschwitz and was liberated by the

Russian Army The Russian Ground Forces (russian: Сухопутные войска �ВSukhoputnyye voyska V}), also known as the Russian Army (, ), are the land forces of the Russian Armed Forces. The primary responsibilities of the Russian Ground Force ...

in early 1945. The couple was reunited several months later, spent several years in post-war Germany working to help other survivors rebuild their lives, and immigrated to the United States in 1951 where Joseph joined Agudath Israel of America. He authored several books on the Holocaust, published by ArtScroll. He died on February 23, 2013. His son-in-law is Rabbi Yosef Chaim Golding, who authored his biography, ''Faith amid the Flames'', an ArtScroll publication.

References

External links

*
My Victory over the Nazis
by Joseph Friedenson

by Joseph Friedenson {{DEFAULTSORT:Friedenson, Joseph 1922 births 2013 deaths Auschwitz concentration camp survivors Buchenwald concentration camp survivors Polish editors Haredi writers Historians of the Holocaust Jewish historians Jewish non-fiction writers Jewish religious writers Writers from Łódź People from Łódź Voivodeship (1919–1939) Polish Haredim Warsaw Ghetto inmates Yiddish-language writers Polish emigrants to the United States American Haredim American people of Polish-Jewish descent Polish expatriates in Germany