Tova Friedman

Tova Friedman (née Tola Grossman; born September 7, 1938) is a Jewish American therapist, social worker, author, and academic born in Poland. She is a Holocaust survivor who was sent to the Auschwitz concentration camp. Friedman taught at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem and later served as the director of the Jewish Family Service of Somerset and Warren Counties.

Early life Friedman was born on September 7, 1938, in Gdynia, Poland, close to Gdańsk. Her family was later transferred to Starachowice, where her parents worked in an ammunition factory. Soviet soldiers took a picture of her showing her tattoo, which would later become an iconic photo of the war. She and her mother returned to Poland, where they found that their home had been destroyed and most of the rest of their extended family had been killed. Her father eventually returned from Dachau and they remained together in Poland for several years.

The story of Friedman's life was written about in the 1998 book Kinderlager by Milton J. Nieuwsma and her grandson opened a profile for her on TikTok where she posts videos on her experience in Auschwitz and replies to questions from children. In 2022, she published the memoir The Daughter of Auschwitz: My Story of Resilience, Survival and Hope which she wrote with journalist Malcolm Brabant.

Friedman spoke on International Holocaust Remembrance Day, January 27, 2025, at Auschwitz. She has been invited to speak at the German Bundestag on the same day in 2026.

She currently resides in Morris County, New Jersey.

Awards and honors Friedman was honored by the Jewish women's organization L'Dor V'Dor on April 11, 2016. and by the Kay Family Award from the Anti-Defamation League in 2023.