Survivor (85) tells horrors of holocaust to millions as she becomes TikTok star

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Survivor (85) Tells Horrors Of Holocaust To Millions As She Becomes Tiktok Star
The most popular videos show the identification number tattooed on Tova Friedman’s arm. Photo: PA Images
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Ted Shaffrey, Associated Press

A Holocaust survivor has become a TikTok star at the age of 85 thanks to her teenage grandson.

From the family living room in Morristown, New Jersey, Aron Goodman (17) records short videos of Tova Friedman reminiscing about life in 1944 and 1945 – when she was a six-year-old at the Auschwitz Nazi death camp.

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She also discusses her experiences before and after the camp.

The pair say videos on her account have garnered 75 million views since they started posting in September 2021.

Holocaust survivor Tova Friedman, 85, with her grandson, 17-year-old Aron Goodman
Holocaust survivor Tova Friedman, 85, with her grandson, 17-year-old Aron Goodman (Ted Shaffrey/AP)

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“It really snowballed,” said Ms Friedman.

“And then we realised it was a fabulous medium for the Holocaust, for young people who don’t want to read the books, who don’t like the classes in school, who don’t like the way the teachers teach or whatever, who are bored with it or some who never heard of it.

“Here they are, listening.”

Aron said the duo’s most-viewed videos are “ones that show her number” — the identification tattooed on prisoners’ arms at Auschwitz.

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“People around the world can’t really get the chance to see a survivor, to see the history on their arm,” he said.

“So social media and TikTok is the way we kind of impart our message and show the evidence of the Holocaust that people unrightfully deny.”

Aron records TikTok videos of his grandmother describing her experiences as a six-year-old at Auschwitz
Aron records TikTok videos of his grandmother describing her experiences as a six-year-old at Auschwitz (Ted Shaffrey/AP)

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Commenters on the videos thank Ms Friedman for posting her memories, with many saying they had not learned much — or anything — about the Holocaust in school.

Aron said he makes the videos to counter antisemitic speech online and educate the TikTok generation about the horrors of the Holocaust.

“We need to focus on the history and warn people where hate can lead if it’s unchecked, if no one does anything about it,” the teenager said.

Another TikTok features black-and-white footage of Ms Friedman with other Jewish children in early 1945, as she pushes up her sleeve to show the tattooed number on her arm.

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The film was shot by the Soviet military a week after they liberated the camp.

When Ms Friedman looks at the film, she remembers her mother, out of frame but nearby, who taught her how to survive in the camp by not making eye contact with the guards and hiding amid dead bodies.

Ms Friedman holds out her left arm to show the number the Nazis tattooed while holding a photo of her as a six-year-old, on the left in the picture, holding out the same arm to show the tattoo to the camera in 1945 after the Soviet military liberated Auschwitz concentration camp
Ms Friedman holding a photograph of her as a six-year-old, on the left in the picture, holding out the same arm to show the tattoo to the camera in 1945 after the Soviet military liberated Auschwitz concentration camp (Ted Shaffrey/AP)

Her mother fell into despair after the war and died in her mid-40s.

Ms Friedman said people often ask how she could ever trust or love people after what she witnessed.

She said she saw many other Holocaust survivors who lost their families in the camps go on to remarry and have more children, which they called “replacement children” in those days.

“Life is resilient and you can live again,” said Ms Friedman, who works as a therapist and social worker and wrote a book about her experiences called The Daughter Of Auschwitz.

“This is what I’d like to let people know. It’s the hope that humanity can rebuild itself.”

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