Friedman, Herbert, Holocaust materials Herbert Friedman Holocaust materials MSS 16906

Herbert Friedman Holocaust materials MSS 16906


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Albert and Shirley Small Special Collections Library

Albert and Shirley Small Special Collections Library
P.O. Box 400110
University of Virginia
Charlottesville, Virginia 22904-4110
URL: https://small.library.virginia.edu/

Ellen Welch

Repository
Albert and Shirley Small Special Collections Library
Identification
MSS 16906
Title
Herbert Friedman Holocaust materials 1924-2006
URL:
https://archives.lib.virginia.edu/ark:/59853/221482
Quantity
1 Cubic Feet, 4 legal size document boxes
Creator
Friedman, Herbert, 1924-2006
Language
English , German , Hebrew , Yiddish , French .

Administrative Information

Conditions Governing Access

This collection is open for research.

Immediate Source of Acquisition

This collection was a gift from Mark Friedman and Ron Friedman to the Small Special Collections Library at the University of Virginia Library on 3 December 2025.


Content Description

This collection contains the personal papers of Herbert Friedman (1924-2006), documenting his survival of the Holocaust and his life afterward. Friedman's archive primarily chronicles his life in pre-Nazi-occupied Vienna, his travel on the kindertransport to and life in England, and his immigration to the United States.

Also included are materials documenting his service in the Army and his later family life in Norfolk, Virginia as a pharmacist.

Two binders of correspondence, family transcriptions, photographs, and notes labeled "Volume 1" and "Volume 2" outline Friedman's life roughly chronologically.

Also included are loose documents, including biographical pieces written by and about Friedman, photographs from his youth and time in the army, official documents, short essays written by Friedman, correspondence including requests for information about family members, and a framed article honoring Friedman. The collection also contains four books, some inscribed by friends and family.

Friedman was born in Vienna on December 11, 1924. He lived with his family in Austria until 1938 when the persecution of Jewish populations in Germany, Austria, and Poland forced the Friedman family's exit from Vienna.

Before he departed from Austria, Friedman was involved in the rescue of a woman who was drowning in the Danube Canal. Herbert, then 13 years old, and his friend Ernst Fleischer, then 15, garnered media attention in Jewish newspapers. Months later, Vienna fell to German occupation. Herbert's friend, Ernst, died in a concentration camp in 1942.

Due to the publicity of saving a woman's life, Herbert secured an appointment with the Rabbi of Austria. The Rabbi named Herbert as one of the one-thousand children slated for the Kultusgemeinde, a negotiation between the Nazis and Austrians for the transportation of children to safer locations. Herbert left on the Kindertransport to England on December 10, 1938. He remained in England for two years, where he was educated in various schools, the majority of which were bombed out of commission by the German Luftwaffe.

By December 1940, Herbert joined his family in the United States, where they had secured papers the previous year. Herbert attended Forest Park High School in Baltimore, graduating in 1942. He joined the United States Army soon after, serving in the South Pacific until 1945. Herbert attended the University of Maryland School of Pharmacy and was recalled to the Army during the Korean War, in which he served as a First Lieutenant.

Related Material

This collection has correspondence from young people including Herbert Friedment, of high school and college age so it is related to the History of Childhood Collection MSS 16758.

Subjects and Indexing Terms

  • History of Childhood, Parenting and Family Building (UVA)
  • Holocaust, Jewish (1939-1945)
  • Jewish children in the Holocaust
  • Jews -- Austria
  • Jews -- Virginia
  • Kindertransports (Rescue operations)

Container List

Series 1. Identity and Citizenship Documents, and Records
  • European Documents and records
    1896-1940
    • Nusyn David (Frydman) Friedman birth certificate
      1896
    • Herbert Friedman birth certificate (photocopy)
      1924
    • Herbert Friedman document of identity for admittance into the United Kingdom
      1937
    • Herbert Friedman Barmitzvah
      1937 November 26
    • Information about Rabbi Benjamin Murmelstein
    • Information about Dr. Israel Taglicht, Former Chief Rabbi of Vienna
    • Herbert Friedman Hakoah swim team card
      1938 March 10
      Scope and Contents

      Last time Herbert Friedman used his swim team card on March 10, 1938. Hitler invaded Vienna March 12, 1938.

    • Austrian citizenship paper for Herbert Friedman (copy)
      1938 September 13
    • Herbert Friedman personenbeschreibung
      1938 September 20
    • Herbert Friedman Geltungsbereich Des Passes (Scope of passport) and Verlangerungen (extension)
    • Copies of documents for family members
    • Herbert Friedman Nazi passport Reisepass
      1938 October 13
    • Herbert Friedman list of travel items
      1938 December 4
    • Instructions for Kindertransport
      1938 December 8
    • Identification tag worn on Kindertransport (No. 325)
    • Permit to England for Kindertransport
      1938 December 11
    • Herbert Friedman ticket to Harwich over English Channel
    • Benjamin (Bencjan) Israel Muszkatblit documents
      1939 July
    • Affidavit from David Friedman
    • R. M. S. Samaria ship program (passage to America)
      1940 November 14
  • School, Army, and Career records
    1930-1986
    • Herbert Friedman Secondary School report cards
      1930-1937
    • Herbert Friedman Certificate of United States Naturalization
      1943 November 19
    • The Great A & P Tea Company timecard
      1941 April 26
    • Herbert Friedman College report card
      1947-1950
    • Herbert Friedman membership to Omicron Chapter of Rho Chi Society
      1949 March 20
    • Herbert Friedman Appointment of 2nd Lieutenant United States Army
      1950 December 21
    • Herbert Friedman letter of Commendation for Joint Army Emergency Relief Fund
      1951 October 12
    • Herbert Friedman Appreciation for judging at Mardi Gras Carnival Party (U. S. Army)
      1951 November 5
    • Herbert Friedman Letter of Recommendation as Pharmacy Officer
      1952 August 6
    • Herbert Friedman Virginia Board of Pharmacy registration
      1953 November 12
    • Herbert Friedman Virginia Notary Public Certificate
      1976 June 4
    • Herbert Friedman Eastern Virginia Health Systems Agency, Inc. Certificate of Appreciation as member of the board
      1980-1986
    • Herbert Friedman's suggestion of name change for pharmaceutical product
      1983 December 9
    • President  next hit of the Jewish Religious Community appreciation of Herbert Friedman for saving a woman who was drowning
      1937 October 19
    • Presidential Office Senate Council of Vienna bestows grant for courageous actions of Herbert Friedman
      1937 December 4
    • Herbert Friedman Letter of Appreciation for saving life of a drowning woman
      1985
    • Invitation for Herbert Friedman to be Honored by Austrian Ambassador
      1986 April 9
Series 2. Correspondence
  • Subseries: Friedman family
    • Postcard from Herbert Friedman to his parents from Pernitz, Austria
      1935 February 18
    • Maternal Grandmother Golda Muszkatblit letter to Herbert Friedman
    • Maternal Grandmother Golda Muszkatblit letter
      1938 November
    • Ida Friedman to Herbert Friedman
      1938 December 21
    • Ida Friedman to Herbert Friedman
      1938 December 26
    • Ida Friedman (mother) and her daughter Lilli to Herbert Friedman
      1938 December 30
    • Letter from Bencjan Muczkatblit (Ida's brother) to Herbert Friedman in England
      1938 December 30
    • Ida Friedman to Herbert Friedman
      1939 January 3
    • Ida Friedman to Herbert Friedman
      1939 January 11
    • Bernhard ("Benny") Friedman to his brother Herbert Friedman
      1939 January 18
    • Ida Friedman to Herbert Friedman
      1939 January 23
    • Herbert Friedman to his brother Bernhard Friedman
      1939 February
    • Carl Muscatt to Herbert Friedman
      1939 February 1
    • Ida Friedman to Herbert Friedman
      1939 February 6
    • Marthe Rozencwajg to cousin Herbert Friedman
      1939 February 6
    • Ida Friedman to Herbert Friedman
      1939 February 22
    • Bernhard Friedman to Herbert Friedman
      1939 February 26
    • Ida Friedman to Herbert Friedman
      1939 March 7
    • Shlomo Friedman to Herbert Friedman
      1939 March 19
    • Ida Friedman to Herbert Friedman
      1939 March 21
    • Bernhard Friedman to Herbert Friedman
      1939 March 27
    • David Friedman to his son Herbert Friedman
      1939 March 27
    • David Friedman to Herbert Friedman
      1939 April 7
    • Bernhard Friedman to Herbert Friedman
      1939 April 7
    • Ida Friedman to Herbert Friedman
      1939 April 23
    • Ida Friedman to Herbert Friedman
      1939 May 12
    • Ida Friedman to Herbert Friedman
      1939 May 28
    • Bernhard (Benny) Friedman to Herbert Friedman
      1939 May 24
    • Marthe Rozencwajg to Herbert Friedman (photocopy)
      1939 June 2French.
    • Ida Friedman to Herbert Friedman
      1939 June 8
    • Ida Friedman to Herbert Friedman
      1939 June 23
    • [Vater] to Herbert Friedman
      1939 June 25
    • Solomon (Schlomo) Friedman to Herbert Friedman
      1939 June 27German.
    • Ida Friedman to Herbert Friedman
      1939 June 30German.
    • Ida Friedman to Herbert Friedman
      1939 July 11German.
    • David Friedman to Herbert Friedman
      1939 July 16Yiddish.
    • Ida Friedman to Herbert Friedman
      1939 July 17German.
    • Ida Friedman to Herbert Friedman
      1939 July 18German.
    • Ida Friedman to Herbert Friedman
      1939 July 26German.
    • Ida Friedman to Herbert Friedman
      1939 August 2German.
    • Ida Friedman to Herbert Friedman
      1939 August 2German.
    • David Friedman to Herbert Friedman
      1939 August 6
    • Ida Friedman to Herbert Friedman
      1939 August 17German.
    • Ida Friedman to Herbert Friedman
      1939 August 29German.
    • Bernhard (Benny) Friedman to Herbert Friedman
      1939 October 5English.
    • Marthe Rozencwajg to Herbert Friedman
      1939 October 5French.
    • David Friedman to Herbert Friedman
      1939 October 8
    • Ida Friedman to Herbert Friedman
      1939 October 24German.
      Scope and Contents

      Her first letter from Baltimore, Maryland, USA

    • Lilli Friedman to Herbert Friedman
      1939 November 22
    • Lilli Friedman birthday card to Herbert Friedman
      1939 December 15
    • David and Ida Friedman to Herbert Friedman
      1940 January 1
    • Lilli Friedman to Herbert Friedman
      1940 January 1
    • David, Ida, and Lilli Friedman to Herbert Friedman
      1940 January 29
    • Bencjan Muszkatblik to Herbert Friedman
      1940 February 6
    • Julian Muszkatblik to Marthe Rozencwadg
      1940 February 10
    • Ida Friedman to Herbert Friedman
      1940 February 12
    • Golda Muszkatblik (maternal grandmother) and Marthe Rozencwajg to Herbert Friedman
      1940 February 27French.
    • Bencjan Muszkatblit to Herbert Friedman
      [1940 March 11]
    • David, Ida, and Lilli Friedman to Herbert Friedman
      1940 March 21
    • Bencjan Muszkatblit to Herbert Friedman
      1940 March 28
    • Ida and Lilli Friedman to Herbert Friedman
      1940 April 25
    • David Friedman to Herbert Friedman
      1940 June 2
    • Marthe Rozencwajd to Herbert Friedman
      1940 June 4
    • David Friedman to Herbert Friedman
      1940 June 16
    • Ida Friedman to Herbert Friedman
      1940 July 5
    • Ida Friedman to Herbert Friedman
      1940 July 8
    • David Friedman to Herbert Friedman
      1940 July 12
    • David, Ida, Lilli Friedman to Herbert Friedman
      1940 July 18
    • David, Ida, Lilli Friedman to Herbert Friedman
      1940 August 1
    • David, Ida, Lilli Friedman to Herbert Friedman
      1940 August 6
    • David, Ida, Lilli Friedman to Herbert Friedman
      1940 August 12
    • David, Ida, Lilli Friedman to Herbert Friedman
      1940 September 4
    • David, Ida, Lilli Friedman to Herbert Friedman
      1940 September 13
    • David, Ida, Lilli Friedman to Herbert Friedman
      1940 September 20
    • David, Ida, Lilli Friedman to Herbert Friedman
      1940 October 8
    • Telegram announcing Herbert Friedman arrival
      1940 November 19
    • Miscellaneous envelopes
    • Carl Muscat to Friedman family
      1940 December 3
    • American Red Cross cable between Ida Friedman and her sister Sara Weysbord about family including Bencjan Muszkatblik
      1941 March 41941 June 10
    • Bencjan Muszkatblik to Ida Friedman about his need to get a ship ticket and to travel to the U. S. Consulate in Marseilles
      1941 May 24
    • Solomon (Schlomo) Friedman to Ida Friedman
      1941 September 10
    • Bencjan Muszkatblik to Ida Friedman
      1941 October 9
    • Bernhard Friedman to Ida Friedman
      1941 December 19
    • Marthe (sometimes Martha) Rozencwajg to David and Ida Friedman
      1944 September 27
    • Solomon (Schlomo) Friedman to Herbert Friedman
      1944 December 14
    • Letter from Friedman cousins in Israel to [David and Ida Friedman]
      1973
    • Dorothy Harrison to David Friedman
      1986 September
  • Subseries: Letters from officials
    • Chief Rabbi Hertz of the British Empire welcome letter
    • Movement For The Care Of Children From Germany
      1939 January 18German.
    • Movement For The Care Of Children From Germany
      1939 January 26
    • Office of Buckingham Palace letter (copy) (The Right Honorable. The Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs) response to a letter asking about the situation with Dantzig Jews and Palestine
      1939 February 28
    • Refugee Children's Movement, LTD. Emigration Department informs of ship's cancellation
      1940 February 10
      Scope and Contents

      Includes card notification from the Hampstead National Registration Office that address must be updated to receive new ration book.

    • Telegram from Professor/Principal Samuel Levene to Herbert Friedman telling him to return to Kendra Hall for appointment
      1939 November
    • Youth Movement Leader of the Association of Jewish War Veterans, Richard Gaensler letter to Young Friend about Herbert Friedman's heroic deed
      1937 November 2
    • Children and Youth Aliya to Herbert Friedman
      1939 December 22
    • Youth Movement Leader of Association of Jewish War Veterans, Richard Gaensler to Herbert Friedman thanking him for heroic deed
      1937 November 2German.
    • Children and Youth Aliyah to Herbert Friedman about helping him to join in parents
      1940 January 8
    • National Refugee Service, Inc. to Herbert Friedman about affidavits
      1940 July 23
    • Baltimore Council of National Association of Jewish Women, Julia Myer Strauss and Herbert Friedman correspondence about affidavits from Alvin Thalheimer and from Herbert's father
      1940 May-July
    • Dr. Johanna Silbermann to Herbert Friedman about emigration
    • National Refugee Service to the American Consul about Herbert Friedman's emigration
      1940 July 17
    • Central Office for Refugees medical appointment card with Dr. Johanna Silbermann for Herbert Friedman
      1940 August 10
    • Townley Castle School principal Samuel Levene letter of recommendation for Herbert Friedman
      1940 September
    • Mrs. L. Phipps, Refugee Children's Movement, Ltd. to Herbert Friedman about sailing on October 10 to Canada
      1940 September 26
    • American Red Cross Letter of Inquiry for Bencjan Muszkatblik
      1941 January 13
    • Julie Myer Strauss and Fanny B. Thalheimer to Herbert Friedman thanking him for telegram
      1941 April-May
    • Julia Myer Strauss to Herbert Friedman thanking him with deep appreciation for his gift to her and her happiness for him
    • Benefactor Alvin Thalheimer to Herbert Friedman
      1941 May 13
    • Benefactor Alvin Thalheimer to Herbert Friedman
      1941 June 21
    • United States Department of Justice to David Friedman about citizen status
      1942 February 20
    • Julie Myers Strauss to Herbert Friedman thanking him for Mother's Day card and reflecting how thankful she is they could help him
      1942 May 12
    • Angela M. Broening, head of English department at Forest Park High School to parents of Herbert Friedman about taking public speaking class
      1942 June 3
    • Julie Myer Strauss to Ida Friedman asking for name of child in France who needs help
      1942 October 19
    • Benefactor Alvin Thalheimer to Herbert Friedman about Herbert joining the army
      1943 August 25
    • United States Senator George L. Radcliffe to Herbert Friedman about a homeland for Jewish people
      1946 July 19
    • Mabel Cooney, Secretary to Henry A. Wallace (Vice previous hit President of the United States) to Herbert Friedman sharing an article about Wallace by Thomas L. Stokes
      1947 February 11
    • Baltimore Committee on Civilian Defense to Herbert Friedman about volunteer work as a teacher in Civilian Defense
  • Subseries: Herbert Friedman correspondence with his friends
    • Walter (friend from Wilbingham Scotland) to Herbert Friedman
      1939 January 22
    • Youngel (Wolfgang Ader) to Herbert Friedman and Heinz Reiner
      1939 March 7
    • Martin Loebl to Herbert Friedman
      1940 January 9
    • Martin Loebl to Herbert Friedman
      1940 January 23
    • Manfred Kanarek to Herbert Friedman
      1940 February 11
    • Erwin Geringer to Herbert Friedman
      [1940] February 23
    • Erwin Geringer to Dear Boys
      1940 February 23
    • Erwin Geringer postcards to Herbert and other boys
      1940 March 1940 May 26
    • Martin Loebl to Herbert Friedman
      1940 June 3
    • Martin Loebl to Herbert Friedman
      1940 September 9
    • Martin Loebl to Herbert Friedman
      1940 November 10
    • Stephen Rose to Herbert Friedman
      1940 November 20
    • Martin Loebl to Herbert Friedman
      1940 November 25
    • Irving Geringer to Herbert Friedman
      1940 December 13
    • Martin Loebl to Herbert Friedman
      1941 February 2
    • M. Skock to Herbert Friedman
      1941 February 2
    • Alice Bender to Herbert Friedman
      1941 February 5
    • Albert Brunn and Stephan to Herbert Friedman
      1941 April 14 (Stephan)1941 April 15 (Albert)
    • Martin Loebl to Herbert Friedman
      1941 May 13
    • Albert Brunn to Herbert Friedman
      1941 May 191942 January 22
    • Alice Bender to Herbert Friedman
      1941 June 2
    • F. Braun to Herbert Friedman
      1941 July 13
    • Leopold Winterstein to Mr. Friedman
      1941 August 15
    • Albert Brunn to Herbert Friedman
      1941 August 31
    • Alice Bender to Herbert Friedman
      1941 November 11
    • Alice Bender to Herbert Friedman
      1942 March 4
    • Erwin Geringer to Herbert Friedman
      1942 July 29
    • Martin Loebl to Herbert Friedman
      1942 August 1
Series 3. Printed and Newspapers articles
  • Judische Jugend Jewish magazine
    1938
  • News Chronicle newspaper cartoon about Adolf Hitler "Not Sure He Can Afford It?"
    1939 August
  • News Chronicle cartoons "As They See It Abroad"
    1939 July 20
  • Das Kleine Blatt newspaper article, "Two Boys Save a Suicidal Woman" from 1937, and an article written later about Herbert Friedman and Ernst Fleischer
    1937 October 17German.
  • Vienna newspaper article titled, "Friedman und Fleischer" telling the story of how they saved a drowning woman
    1937 October 16
  • Yiddish newspaper article (Radon, Poland) about Friedman and Fleisher saving the woman drowning in Vienna
  • The Forest Park Press newspaper article, "Narrowly Escapes Death" recounting the story of Herbert Friedman rescuing a young girl in the Danube amidst bombing in 1937
    1940 December 6
  • Norfolk Compass newspaper article, "Vienna visit sparks bitter memories" account of Herbert Friedman's brave rescue of a drowning woman in the Danube river in 1937
    1984 October 3-4
  • The Baltimore Jewish Times newspaper article, "Ex-Baltimorean Honored 49 Years After Heroism"
    1986 March 7
  • Richmond Times Dispatch newspaper article (laminated), "Jewish Hero is honored by Austria"
    1986 March 14
  • The Ledger-Star newspaper article, "Jew's 1937 heroics in Austria honored at last" and a letter from Thomas Klestil, Ambassador of Austria
    1986 March 26
  • Virginia-Pilot Virginia Pilot newspaper article, "Austria honors 52-year-old act of heroism"
  • Newsletter article about Herbert Friedman name change on pharmaceutical product
    1983-1984
Series 4. Photographs
  • Photograph of an [unidentified woman]
  • Photographs of Bencjan Muszkatblik, his wife Erna, and son Julius
  • Photograph of Herbert Friedman (head and shoulder)
    1944
  • Photograph of Herbert Friedman in military uniform
  • Yiddish New Years card to Ida Friedman and photograph of First Grade class at Gerharduss Gasse Schule
  • Photographs of children at Kindertransport
    1938 December
  • Photograph of Vienna neighbors
  • photocopy of images of Herbert Friedman with others in the army
    1940's-1950's
  • colored photocopies of Herbert Friedman standing with his sons and photograph of his grandchildren