The youngest Auschwitz survivor has left viewers in tears as she recalled how she an her mother were torn away from her father and sent to the concentration camp.
Tova Friedman, was just six years old when she was separates from her father by the Nazis ans tattooed with a number she grew up to think was her name.
As she told her story to Christine Lampard viewers took to Twitter praising Tova for her ‘incredible bravery’.
The Holocaust survivor, 84, who has dedicated her life to raising awareness of the cruel abuse she and millions more endured and has written a book about her experience called The Daughter of Auschwitz.
The youngest Auschwitz survivor, Tova Friedman, has been praised for her ‘incredible bravery’ after appearing on ITV’s Lorraine this morning
She was one of 5,000 Jewish children living in the Polish town of Tomashov, near Lodz, who were sent to a Nazi labour camp.
Tova called writing the book a ‘cathartic experience’, ‘deeply upsetting’ but ‘hugely important’ because she doesn’t want the world to forget.
Speaking to Christine Lampard, she explained: ‘It’s two things, not to forget and hopefully it will never happen again, so there is two parts to it.’
Speaking about how she and her mother were taken away by Nazis and subject to the horrors of Auschwitz, Tova said she still remembers her father’s tears.
Tova Friedman was just six when she became a victim of the Nazi regime, separated from her father and was tattooed with a number she thought was her name
The Holocaust survivor, 84, who has dedicated her life to raising awareness of the cruel abuse she and millions more endured has written a book about her experience called The Daughter of Auschwitz
She said: ‘Being a family, you can endure almost anything, but being alone in separation – that’s where the issue comes in.’
‘I do a lot of speaking but writing or thinking about writing is a different experience because you have to be quiet, you have to think about it, you have to re-live it and you live it in your own privacy.
‘Sometimes I can’t sleep at night, sometimes I can’t believe it really happened and then I think of my mother how she handled a five year old, so it’s a different experience from talking.’
For a year and a half between the ages of five and six, Tova Friedman didn’t have a name, being referred to only as inmate A27633.
Speaking to Christine Lampard, she explained the book is about two things ‘not to forget and hopefully it will never happen again’
The number was tattooed on her arm by a Jewish prisoner when she arrived at Auschwitz.
She said: ‘I didn’t know any numbers because I hadn’t gone to school.
‘I couldn’t identify the word so I had to memorise something by hearing it. It was very scary.’
Tova went on to explain that even though many survivors choose to remove their tattoos once they were free, she choose to keep hers.
Tearing up, she explained: ‘I was only 12 but I remember saying if it’s alright here, I wouldn’t take it off, because I felt even then I need to share this.’
She added: ‘In the 50s no one wanted to hear it, but I wanted to share it with the world to see what happened.’
She revealed the woman who gave her the tattoo said she would give her a ‘small’ and ‘neat’ number so if she survived the ordeal she could ‘cover it with a shirt’.
Tova went on to explain that even though many survivors choose to remove their tattoos once they were free, she choose to keep hers
As Nazi forces began to shoot any survivors in the camps after getting word that the Allied Powers were gaining ground, Tova and her mother (pictured) decided to play dead which ultimately saved their lives
Viewers were quick to comment on Tova’s ‘incredible bravery’ on Twitter, with one person saying she was moved to ‘tears’
As Nazi forces began shooting survivors in the camps after getting word that the Allied Powers were advancing, Nova and her mother decided to play dead which ultimately saved their lives.
She said: ‘Everyone was lined up, walking to get out, the Allies were coming, she knew herself, she knew that she couldn’t walk, she was starving.
‘She was all bloated no way would she make it, it was January, freezing and the ground was full of snow, she knew she would die.
‘She didn’t want me to be left alone, her words were to me ”I don’t want you to be left alone in this world its not a world for children”.’
Tova continued: ‘Then she asked me if I would die with her in Auschwitz and I said “absolutely, yes”.’
Viewers were quick to comment on Tov’s ‘incredible bravery’ on Twitter.
One person wrote: ‘Tova Friedman on @Lorraine wow, what an incredible and brave woman.’
Another said: ‘What a woman Tova Friedman is. Very inspirational.’
While another wrote: ‘Can’t see the screen for my tears. Bless you Tova Friedman.’
Tova has been sharing her story with students and audiences at public and private schools, at colleges and places of worship, as well as prisons, to make sure no one forgets the horror of the Holocaust.
She moved to the US with her parents at age 12 and went onto receive her Bachelor of Arts degree in psychology from Brooklyn College, a Master of Arts in Black literature from City College of New York and her Master of Arts in social work from Rutgers University.