At long last, Holocaust survivor receives high school diploma

Published 12:38 pm Tuesday, October 14, 2014

By Dan Aznoff

Special to the Reporter

Mercer Island resident Henry Friedman was barely a teenager when he was forced to hide in the confines of a cramped attic of a farmhouse near the town of Brode near the border between the Ukraine and Poland to escape the Nazi reign of terror.

The young Friedman maintained his silence in a space he remembers as no larger than a queen-sized bed with his parents and a former teacher for more than 18 months. The foursome survived on scraps of food smuggled to them by the daughter of the farmer who owned the barn.

Seventy years later he can still recall the harrowing details of slipping out of the barn one night to bury the body of his newborn sister.

Seven decades after witnessing his friends and neighbors being shipped off to concentration camps, he built a storybook life of prosperity in America. Friedman has documented the details of his struggle to survive in a self-published book titled, “I’m No Hero.” and shared his stories with students in the Kent School District for more than 20 years.

When district officials learned that their frequent guest had always regretted not earning his high school diploma, the school board voted to present him with an honorary degree. The ceremony was coordinated by Friedman’s long-time friend, Pat Gallagher, a teacher and administrator in the Kent school system.

In addition to receiving his diploma last week, the octogenarian was the commencement speaker for the fall graduation ceremonies.

“My dream of becoming a lawyer disappeared overnight in 1941, when the Germans put barbed wire to surround the town of Brode to create a Jewish ghetto,” Friedman told the group.

The teenager was one of less than 100 Jews who survived the war from a population of 10,000 in Brode before the war.

He eventually made his way across the Atlantic to Boston and boarded a train in 1949 for his new home in Seattle. He was drafted less than two years later and ordered to fight as an American soldier in Korea. But Friedman has always regretted not completing his formal education.

“When I was going through the graduations of my children from high school to college and my grandchildren, I always felt a little emptiness,” said Friedman.

After the ceremony, Friedman explained how determination and his religion helped him survive his captivity above the barn. He said he was motivated by the strength of Jews throughout history who had been persecuted purely because of their faith.

He could have never imagined a life in America.

Friedman’s high school graduation comes three years after he was called to the Torah to become a bar mitzvah at the age of 83.

He played an instrumental part in the creation of the Holocaust Memorial Museum in Washington, D.C., and is the founder and chairman of the Washington Holocaust Education Resource Center.

He is scheduled to be back on the podium next year for the grand opening of the Henry and Sandra Friedman Holocaust Center for Humanity in downtown Seattle.

In addition to being his friend, Gallagher serves on the Holocaust Center board with Friedman. He said Friedman has been an inspiration since they first met 20 years ago.

“It’s impossible for me not to cry regardless of how many times I’ve heard his story,” said Gallagher. “Henry has been generous with his time for numerous causes, but I’ve seen first-hand the impact his words have on the middle school and high school students he visits each year.”

The story of his confinement was especially poignant to 19-year-old Mandi McGowin, who heard Friedman speak to her class at the Kent Mountain View Academy last year.

“On a very personal level, I suffer from Tourette’s syndrome and could not imagine being forced to lay completely still for day after day,” said McGowin, who attended the graduation with her family. “I would have been discovered and killed for sure.

Mr. Friedman is a precious gift who has come into my life. I am grateful and inspired by him every day.”

Dan Aznoff is a freelance writer who specializes in capturing the stories of past generations. Contact him at da@dajournalist.com.