Tova Friedman Shares Her Story of Resilience and Answers Questions from Students
ROOSEVELT, NEW YORK (APRIL 2025)—Roosevelt High School welcomed a remarkable guest who inspired students with her extraordinary story of survival, resilience and hope. Holocaust survivor, author, and therapist Tova Friedman visited the school ion April 28th to share her experience and answer questions from students.
“This was a rare and powerful opportunity to learn about history firsthand from someone who survived one of humanity’s most horrific periods,” said Superintendent of Schools Dr. Shawn Wightman. “We are incredibly grateful to Tova Friedman for sharing her truth and reminding us of the enduring importance of empathy, strength, and remembrance.”
Ms. Friedman, one of the youngest survivors of the Auschwitz concentration camp, spoke candidly to students about her harrowing childhood experiences during the Holocaust. When the Nazis left the camp in January 1945, she and her mother survived by hiding among corpses in the camp’s infirmary until it was liberated by the Red Army. After returning to their devastated hometown and reuniting with her father, who survived Dachau, the family eventually immigrated to the United States in 1950.
Friedman built a life of service and education in her new home. She became a therapist and social worker, taught at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, and spent more than two decades as Director of Jewish Family Service of Somerset and Warren Counties in New Jersey.
In 2022, Friedman co-authored The Daughter of Auschwitz: My Story of Resilience, Survival and Hope, a memoir that continues to reach and inspire readers globally. Her influence rippled through a new generation after her grandson made her a TikTok account, through which she shares her experiences and answers questions from young people around the world.
Students asked Ms. Friedman questions about her experience and how she kept her optimism and spirit all these years. Her story of survival, courage and hope deeply moved everyone in the crowd as she reminded the students, “You are much stronger and more resilient than you think you are.”
