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Historical records matching David Friedmann/Friedman
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About David Friedmann/Friedman
David Friedmann was a painter, graphic artist and survivor of the Holocaust. He studied etching with Herman Struck and painting with Lovis Corinth in Berlin. He achieved acclaim as a painter known for his portraits drawn from life. In 1924, his quick-sketching ability led to an additional career as a freelance newspaper press artist. He produced hundreds of portraits of famous contemporary personalities. Friedmann's talent for portraiture played a central role throughout his career and saved his life during the Holocaust.
He was a Freemason, a member of Berlin's St. Johannisloge “Germania zur Einigkeit” from Jan. 26, 1922 until the Nazi regime closed down the lodges. He was promoted to “Master” on Oct.12, 1925.
After Hitler came to power in 1933, his successful prewar career ended. As each of his options narrowed, he continued to produce art illustrating the events and personal experiences of his time. In December 1938, Friedmann fled with his family from Berlin to Prague, escaping from the Nazis with only his artistic talent as a means to survive. In 1941, the Nazi authorities looted his oeuvre of 2,000 works in Berlin and Prague. Friedmann depicted human fate as a refugee in Prague, as a prisoner in the Łódź Ghetto, in the Auschwitz sub-camp, Gleiwitz I, and as a survivor. His wife and little daughter perished. Torn from his memories, he created the powerful series, Because They Were Jews! The artwork shows the evolution of the Holocaust from his deportation to the Łódź Ghetto and several concentration camps until liberation.
Friedmann’s postwar journey led from Czechoslovakia to Israel to New York, Chicago and St. Louis, where he died at the age of eighty-six. His works can be seen in the permanent exhibition of the Holocaust History Museum, Yad Vashem, among other institutions and museums.
Related Information:
Because They Were Jews: http://z.umn.edu/becausetheywerejews
Facebook: David Friedmann—Artist As Witness https://www.facebook.com/DavidFriedmann1893/?modal=admin_todo_tour
Portraits of the Prague Jewish Community 1940-1941: https://www.holocaust.cz/en/sources/expert-and-other-texts/david-fr... http://collections.jewishmuseum.cz/index.php/Search/Index?search=DA...
Watch clip from “Holocaust Diary” on Strange Inheritance, Fox Business News, premiered Nov. 30, 2015: https://www.facebook.com/video.php?v=446939392173700&theater http://video.foxbusiness.com/v/4639850129001/strange-inheritance-ho...
David Friedman Website http://z.umn.edu/davidfriedmann
PAINTING TO SURVIVE – The Work of David Friedman http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bvT1IKsYqJc
United States Holocaust Memorial Museum, Washington DC www.ushmm.org (search the catalogue)
GIVING MUSIC A FACE - David Friedmann's Lost Musician Portraits from the 1920's http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kQFh748qS5Y
Miriam Friedman Morris http://vimeo.com/45334366
cf. also: https://www.stolpersteine-berlin.de/de/biografie/4163
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David Friedmann/Friedman's Timeline
| 1893 |
December 20, 1893
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Moravská Ostrava (Mährisch Ostrau), Ostrava, Ostrava-město, Moravskoslezský kraj, Czech Republic
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| 1938 |
September 23, 1938
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Berlin-Schoeneberg, Germany
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| 1980 |
February 27, 1980
Age 86
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St. Louis County, Missouri, United States
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February 29, 1980
Age 86
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United Hebrew Cemetery, 7855 Canton Ave., University City, St. Louis County, MO 63130, United States
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