Joseph Friedenson Explained

Shmuel Yosef Friedenson
Birth Date:April 1922
Birth Place:Łódź, Poland
Death Date:February 2013
Known For:Founding Dos Yiddishe Vort (דאס אידישע ווארט)
Spouse:
  • Yocheved Friedenon
Children:Esther Gruenstein
Chana Kahn
Rosie Golding

Joseph Friedenson (Yiddish: יוסף פֿרידענזאָן, 1922–2013) was a Holocaust survivor, Holocaust historian, Yiddish writer, lecturer, and editor of .[1]

Biography

Friedenson was born in Łódź, Poland 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 movement in pre-World War II Europe.[1]

Friedenson studied in Yeshiva Chachmei Lublin.[2] [3] [4]

When World War II broke out, Friedenson's family fled to Warsaw, eventually becoming prisoners of the Warsaw Ghetto 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.[1]

The family arrived at Auschwitz in July 1944. Joseph endured death marches, confinement in Ohrdruf and several other concentration camps, and was finally liberated from Buchenwald in April, 1945, by the United States Army.[1]

Mrs. Friedenson remained in Auschwitz and was liberated by the Russian Army 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.[1]

He authored several books on the Holocaust, published by ArtScroll.[1]

He died on February 23, 2013 at his home in Manhattan at the age of 90.[5] [6]

His son-in-law, Rabbi Yosef Chaim Golding,[1] authored his biography titled Faith amid the Flames, published by ArtScroll publication.

External links

Notes and References

  1. Web site: Video: Reb Yosef Friedenson Delivers Inspiring Words of Emunah. Jul 21, 2010. matzav.com. Nov 23, 2016.
  2. News: Polish Jews to Reopen Synagogue in Prewar Yeshiva Chachmei Lublin . 28 March 2023 . Haaretz . 11 February 2007 . en.
  3. Web site: Weinbach . Mendel . A Special Holocaust Survivor by Rabbi Mendel Weinbach zt'l . Ohr Somayach . 28 March 2023.
  4. Web site: Friedman . Yossi . God Has Not Forsaken You . Aish.com . 28 March 2023 . 4 April 2013.
  5. News: Sep 16, 2013. Year in Review 5773. Hamodia. 31.
  6. News: Agudah Editor Joseph Friedenson Dies at 90. The Forward. 2018-02-22.