Tova Friedman was born on September 7, 1938. Friedman, among the youngest to survive the Nazi Holocaust, was one of the few Jewish children to live through the nightmare ordeals of Auschwitz. After the war, she and her parents spent several years in a German tuberculosis sanatorium and in displaced person camps, before arriving in the U.S. when she was 12 years old. They lived in Brooklyn, where she met and married her husband of 60 years, Maier Friedman (recently deceased). Tova Friedman received her Bachelor of Arts degree in psychology from Brooklyn College and a Master of Arts in Black literature from City College of New York. Friedman has four children and eight grandchildren. She continues to share her story with students and audiences at schools, colleges, and places of worship all over the country.
About Life Stories
Life Stories is a 501(c)(3) non-profit media organization that creates and distributes documentaries, interviews, and educational resources about people whose lives inspire meaningful change. These stories address issues of civics, history, politics, the arts and culture by shining the spotlight on relatable human stories of purpose and meaning in times of change. We provide open access to all our content for communities and classrooms through our curated website and YouTube channel.
About The Thread
The Thread is a new documentary interview series exploring what it means to live a purpose-driven life through conversations with multi-faceted people who have helped shape our society. Each 30-minute episode takes viewers on a personal journey into the life of extraordinary people who candidly share their triumphs and failures. The Thread is available on the Life Stories website and YouTube channel, and as a podcast across all major platforms. Teaching The Thread brings the series into the classroom with episode lessons designed to strengthen social emotional learning and media literacy skills and expand the scope of subject matter in Social Studies and English Language Arts. Future seasons of The Thread will include similar curricular support.
Introduction:
In this video, Tova Friedman reflects on being a Holocaust survivor, vividly describing her time in the ghettos, labor camps, and eventually Auschwitz. Friedman shares the challenges her family faced as survivors in postwar America. She emphasizes the importance of storytelling and her commitment to ensuring her children and grandchildren carry on the legacy of remembrance and resilience. Please visit “Tova Friedman: Surviving Auschwitz“ to view the full lesson created by Life Stories.
Content Notes:
STEP 1
In the video, Tova Friedman shares a survivor testimony: a firsthand account of the events, feelings, and fears she experienced while living through the Holocaust as a young child.
Testimonies are a distinct type of storytelling. They provide a window to an historical event that only someone who lived through it can offer; testimonies are deeply personal and reflective of that individual’s experience. Details of an event might be recounted differently, depending on who is sharing; however, each person’s retelling is valid and true to what they know.
Anyone who listens to a testimony is said to “bear witness,” and this act comes with the responsibility to carefully listen and acknowledge the reality of the experiences being shared. With Holocaust testimony, it’s especially important to ask yourself, “What do I do with this information?”
Sit with that question for a moment, and write your reflections on these questions in your writing journal:
Now that you’ve borne witness to Tova Friedman’s testimony of the Holocaust, what is one takeaway from her story? How do you see yourself applying that takeaway to your life, now or in the future?
STEP 2
Now that you know more about testimonies, you will put them in context by relating them to another type of nonfiction writing: personal narratives. Find Testimonies in Context on page 1 of the Storytelling Is Who We Are—Handout On this page, write about what you already know about personal narratives, compared to what you’ve been learning about testimonies. On the bottom of the handout, write about their similarities, in your own words. Continue in your writing journal if you need more space.
STEP 3
Next, you will write your own version of a testimony that draws on an experience from your personal history. Find Your Personal History on page 2 of the handout. Write your name in the gray box. At the end of each line, write an experience that has taught you something. Choose experiences you feel would be valuable for others to know about. These can be experiences that taught you about something hard, about something you need to be happy, or about any of the emotions in between—whatever you feel comfortable writing about. Add more lines as you need them. Circle the experience you’d like to continue writing about.
STEP 4
Next, answer the reflection questions on page 3 of the handout. These questions will help you reflect on the experience you chose and the lessons you learned from it.
STEP
Last, use pages 4–6 of the handout to help you write your testimony:
Optional Extension: Ask someone you trust to read your testimony to continue the conversation about this important experience you had. As Tova Friedman said, one of the best ways we can keep our stories alive is to keep talking about them.
by 826 National and Life Stories
In this lesson, you will hear about the life and art of Reginald Dwayne Betts and write a poem that captures a meaningful moment from your everyday life.
by Robin Reid Drake, 826CHI
826CHI Teaching Artist, Robin Reid Drake, shares an original writing prompt that encourages students to borrow lines from their favorite pieces of writing and then remix them into something new.
by Jason Reynolds
National Ambassador for Young People's Literature and NYT Bestselling Author, Jason Reynolds, joined 826 students for a conversation on his video project, "For Every One."
by Sean Prentiss
Essayist, poet, and National Outdoor Book Award winner Sean Prentiss shares 5 techniques to use when writing scenes.
by 826 National and Life Stories
In this lesson, you will learn about Rev. Dr. Jacqueline Lewis’s life, an idea she calls “fierce-love,” and the importance of learning to love yourself.
by 826 National
Senior Business Development Manager Erin Polgreen shares more about the ways she sees LinkedIn users engaging with writing on the platform.
by Austin Bunn
Fiction writer, playwright, and screenwriter Austin Bunn shares a writing prompt that will get you noticing--and reimagining--the objects you see everyday.
by Amy Dupcak, 826NYC
Writer and teaching artist with 826NYC, Amy Dupcak, shares a memoir writing prompts that helps students use specific sensory language to describe a place they love.
by 826 National, featuring Priyanna Kumar Singhania, Grade 8
In this lesson, you will write down a story that’s been passed down to you, using precise words and phrases and sensory language, to convey a vivid picture of the event.
by 826 National, featuring Alistar Bedell, Grade 11, CA
In this lesson, you will practice analyzing different types of a narrative technique called irony. Then, you will write your own scene that uses irony to develop an imaginary experience or character.
by 826 National
Law student Brenda Quintanilla shares how writing is a vital tool to use when advocating for your community.
by Natalie Moore
In this lesson, you will use journal entries as inspiration for a dynamic narrative poem.
by Cristeta Boarini, 826 MSP
Journalist and 826 MSP staffer, Cristeta Boarini, shares a poetry prompt that walks students through using shapes to convey meaning.
by Javier Zamora, 826 Valenica alumni and New York Times bestselling author
Author Javier Zamora was an undocumented immigrant when he was a student. Now, he invites you to raise your voice and write to the next President of the United States.
by 826 National
In this lesson, you will build your confidence as a writer by battling the page on a consistent basis.
by 826 National and Life Stories
You will write a “soundscape” poem filled with familiar sounds of your neighborhood or home.
by 826 National and Life Stories
Songwriters are powerful storytellers. Their lyrics can connect us, uplift us, and even heal us. In this lesson, you’ll identify a story of your own and turn it into original song lyrics.
by Jason Reynolds
Part letter, part long-form poem, "For Every One" offers reflections and courageous words about unraveling and rebuilding one's dreams.
by 826 National
Writers are guided by their personal and artistic values as they work to achieve their goals. But what are those values built on? In this lesson, you will discover that for yourself.
by 826 National
Revision is the process of making substantial changes in your writing. In this lesson, you will use revision strategies to strengthen a current piece of writing you’re working on.
by 826 National
In this lesson, you will learn a strategy for writing down your thoughts and feelings to understand them more clearly.
by Sean Prentiss
Essayist, poet, and National Outdoor Book Award winner Sean Prentiss shares his favorite way to develop the setting of a story or essay as a fully formed character.
by Amanda Gorman
Presidential Inaugural Poet, activist, and bestselling author Amanda Gorman shares one of her favorite techniques for starting a poem or getting over writers' block.
by 826 National
Television writer and showrunner Tim McKeon shares how he became a scriptwriter and the valuable skills you'll need if you'd like to become one too.
by 826 National
Radiologist Matthew Bucknor shares while it's important for students studying STEM fields "not to sleep on the Humanities."
by 826 National
Television writer and showrunner Tim McKeon shares how you can study your favorite TV show to learn about screenwriting.
by 826 National
Nicole Dungca, Investigative Reporter at The Washington Post and President of the Asian American Journalists Association, shares strategies for asking key questions.