Friedrich Family History Project

My Dad

Jason Friedrich

In the late 1970s, the Friedrichs moved from Vineland, NJ to a town closer to Philadelphia, PA. Jason attended Akiba Hebrew Academy (now Named Jack M. Barrack Hebrew Academy) and The George Washington University which brought him to the Washington, DC area.

My Zaide's Early Life

Moshe's Life in Poland

My Zaide was born in September of 1942 while the Friedrichs were in Soviet work camps, likely in Uzbekistan. He spent the first 3 years of his lfe in these circumstances.

After the war ended, the Friedrichs went to a Displaced Persons (DP) camp in Deggendorf, Germany. The Friedrichs were in the DP camp until coming to the USA in 1948. Len remembered some of his life in the DP camp which he said was filled with many young people and lots of activities.

Upon arriving in America, Len lived in Brooklyn and attended yeshiva there. Len knew very little English when he arrived in the USA. When Len was about 10 years old, the Friedrichs purchased a chicken farm in Vineland, New Jersey. Vineland in the 1950s was an idyllic small town with a growing Jewish community because of the influx of Holocaust survivors. Len attended a cheder there and went to shul with his father every Shabbat. Len's childhood took on a more American character as he developed a love for baseball and jazz.

Moshe is from a town in Poland called Rymanov/Rymanow. It was reported that he was born in Bethune, Germany. In Rymanov, he was a winemaker and rented his equipment and facility from the basement of another Jewish family.

Rymanov was a small town in which Jews and non-Jews mixed in commerce and civil services. Moshe sold Kosher and non-Kosher wine. The Rymanov Jewish community was a very tight-knit, close Jewish community with a rich Jewish history. In addition, it was a vibrant Jewish community that had Hasidim, Zionists, and several Jewish Youth Groups.

This picture is included in the Yizkor Book of Rymanov. Moshe and his wife Sima are at a Shabbat Dinner at Sima's home.

My Great Grandfather

My Grandfather (Zaide)

Preparing For Arrival in America

This is an image of Hasidic Rabbis visting Rymanov.

Moshe's Religous Observance

Name Unkown

(Moshe's Grandmother)

There was a vibrant Jewish life in the Deggendorf DP camp with youth groups, dances, and other civic organizations (Moshe and Len are in a photo at the DP Camp-Seen on Bottom Left image). The Friedrichs decided to go to the USA so Sima could be reunited with her sister in New York. Moshe was a committed Zionist and hoped to eventually make aliyah. Most of Moshe's siblings left Europe to move to Israel. The Friedrichs were reunited with certain other Rymanovers while in the DP camp, American soliders helped them fill out the required paperwork to enter the USA (seen on bottom Right Image). The Friedrichs were sponsored by the Hebrew Immigrant Aid Society (HIAS-documentation seen on Top Left images).

Moshe and Sima's Wedding Picture

Roza Friedrich

(Moshe's Mother)

Pictures on The Right: On some level, for my Zaide, owning a Cadillac was a symbol of "making it" in America. But the fact that his son and now grandson have strong Jewish identities and graduated/are attending Jewish Day Schools is what is more important.

Moshe Friedrich

Moshe was a traditionally observant Jew who supported Zionism. Moshe went to Shul regularly and was observant of holidays and Jewish law generally. He received a Jewish education in a cheder in Rymanov. Rabbi Menachem Mendel of Rymanov (1745-1815) was a Hasidic Rabbi from Rymanov. He was known as the Rymanover Rebbe and is buried there. His Hasidic movement is still associated with Rymanov and his grave is visited regularly.

Moshe remained religiously observant and committed to Israel his entire life. After he arrived in Ameica, he davened regulary at a shtebl with other Polish Jews. Moshe was kosher and shomer Shabbat. He also visited Israel regularly.

Rabbi Menachem Mendel of Rymanov's headstone in present day Rymanov.

In this wedding picture, you can see how the Jews of Rymanov dressed differently. Sima's father dressed like a traditional Hasidic man (i.e., beard and shtreimel) whereas Moshe's father was wearing a European suit and hat. Similary, some of the older women in the picture completely cover their hair while others do not.

The Friedrich family largely travelled together during the war. The Friedrichs spent time in work camps in Siberia and other parts of the Soviet Union, in particular Uzbekistan (central Asia).

Sima's family, the Schreibers, were unable to travel with the Friedrichs and stayed in Rymanov. With the exception of Sima's siblings that left for the USA before the war, all of Sima's family perished in the Shoah.

Len Friedrich

Name Given in the US: Moses Friedrich

Original Name: Moisha (Yiddish) or Moshe (Hebrew) Friedrich

Shmuel Friedrich

(Moshe's Father)

Name Given in the US: Leonard (Len) Friedrich

Original Name: Eliezar Friedrich

Israel Schreiber (Sima's Father)

Life in America

The Friedrichs Were Forced to Leave Rymanov

The Friedrichs arrived in America on a ship named the Marine Tiger on Febuary 10th 1948. In the early 1950s, with support from the Hebrew Free Loan Society (HFLS), the Friedrichs purchased a chicken farm in Vineland, NJ. There were many Holocaust survivors that purchased such farms and got their start in the USA with these chicken farms as explained in the book "Speaking Yiddish to Chickens" (Bottom Left Image). Moshe ultimately sold his farm to a real estate developer and had a street in the newly built neighborhood named after his wife, Simca terrace (Top Left Image).

Jewish life was very active in Vineland during the 1950s. A Jewish day school was still being created in Vineland. Len learned at the cheder in the B'nai Ya'acov shul in Norma, NJ (Top Right Image). Moshe davened regulary at a shtebl made up of other Polish Jews. Len became a bar mitzvah at his father's shtebl (Bar Mitzvah Invitation-Bottom Right Image).

Len eventually joined Moshe in the real estate business. He met his wife, my Bubbe, Irene, and started their young family in Vineland.

Moshe and His Wife Sima (My Great Grandmother)

Moshe and his family (parents, brothers, and sisters) left Rymanov because Nazis were going to take over the town. He had non-Jewish customers in the Polish Army who told him the Germans would be coming and it would be bad for the Jews. We understand that the Friedrich winery still exists in Rymanov today and is operated by a non-Jewish family. The Friedrichs headed East upon leaving Rymanov and were ultimately placed in Russian work camps.

The Jews in Rymanov that did not leave prior to the Nazi invasion were sent to Belzec concentration camp.

Moshe and Sima's Wedding Invitation

My Zaide and I

before a Basketball Game.

Me

Family Tree

Work Cited

Thesis

My Hebrew name is Moshe Simcha; named after my great grandparents, Moshe and Sima Friedrich. My Zaide was given the privilege of being the Sandek at my bris so he was physically closest to me as I entered the covenant of the Jewish people (Picture above). I was the last to complete the act of kovod ha met (honoring the dead) for my Zaide by completely covering his coffin. My Zaide and I are linked not just through fun memories but through an unbreakable bond to our Judaism.

My Zaide was sure to send my father to Jewish day school, an opportunity that history denied him. Now I also attend a Jewish day school which not only provides me a Jewish education but a bond with my Zaide. It is a bond I honor through my strong Jewish identity and education. May his memory be a blessing.

Avi Friedrich, Interview with Jason Friedrich (Father), May 13, 2023.

Avi Friedrich, Interview with Chaim-Zvi Sznicer (Cousin-CZ's Grandmother was Moshe's Sister), May 15, 2023.

All Images Provided by Friedrich Family.

My ancestors were caught in the middle of the most significant Jewish and global events in the last century. The key lessons from my family's history are resilience, the ability to adjust to radically different and new environments, and a deep commitment to a Jewish education and identity. Despite significant suffering, my family has emerged both deeply connected Jewishly and secure in its place in American society.

The Friedrichs - A Story of Survival and Jewish Continuity

By: Avi Friedrich