Doris Friedman
"Faith and trust in G-d."
Name at birth
Divora Stern
Date of birth
05/18/1921
Where were you born?
Where did you grow up?
Mukacevo, Czechoslovakia
Name of father, occupation
Shlomo Stern,
Delivery service, brick maker
Maiden name of mother, occupation
Antonia Kahan,
Homemaker
Immediate family (names, birth order)
Parents and three daughters: me, Shari and Rose
How many in entire extended family?
30-50 or more
Who survived the Holocaust?
Me and my two sisters, Shari and Rose
My parents, Rose and I arrived in Auschwitz in 1944. The men and women were separated. I was with my mother and my younger sister, Rose. At the Selection, Mengele asked me if this woman was my mother or my sister. I answered honestly that this was my mother. Mengele then sent my mother to the line for the gas chamber. My mother’s last words to me were, “Take care of Rosie as if she were your own child.” And I did.
In 1939, my other sister Shari fled to Russia, she wound up in a Russian prison in Siberia. She was allowed to leave Siberia in 1947, two years after the war ended.
Name of Ghetto(s)
Name of Concentration / Labor Camp(s)
Where did you go after being liberated?
I was taken to Sweden
Occupation after the war
Seamstress
Spouse
Eugene Friedman,
Wholesale meats
Children
Harold Friedman, Dentist; Tina Friedman, Accountant; Susie Friedman Iovan, Business owner
Grandchildren
Five
What do you think helped you to survive?
Strength, courage, and the will to live. Caring for my little sister, Rosie.
What message would you like to leave for future generations?
Faith and trust in G-d.
Interviewer:
Charles Silow
Interview date:
08/05/2011
To learn more about this survivor, please visit:
The Zekelman Holocaust Center Oral History Collection
https://www.holocaustcenter.org/visit/library-archive/oral-history-department/friedman-stern-doris/
https://www.holocaustcenter.org/visit/library-archive/oral-history-department/friedman-stern-doris/