"Enjoyment in Libraries with the Candid Pencil of David Friedman"
1962 - 1972, St. Louis, Missouri.

Artist David Friedman(n) (1893-1980) was an accomplished artist before World War II and the Holocaust. Living in Berlin, he fled the Nazi regime at the end of 1938 to Prague, only to be deported in October 1941 to the Lodz Ghetto, then to Auschwitz-Birkenau, and Gleiwitz I. He survived a Death March to Concentration Camp Blechhammer, Oberschlesien where he was liberated January 25, 1945 by Soviet troops.

Friedman was a master in depicting human documentaries. He reveled in the movement and activities of young and old. He observed people, nature and the world around him. This was evident in his powerful series about the Holocaust:

David Friedman's Holocaust Art Exhibit: "Because...They Were Jews!"
( The Center for Holocaust and Genocide Studies - University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, MN)

While working on this series, it was his trips to the library that offered him the necessary respite from the torment and agony of his memories. The artist said, "I needed to forget about the concentration camps and the horror that was there. So it was a pleasure to go to the library." The artist's wife, Hildegard, and his daughter, Miriam Friedman Morris, have donated Mr. Friedman's drawings of libraries in St. Louis, Missouri during the period 1962-1972 to the Finkelstein Memorial Library in Spring Valley, New York. We have digitalized the images and it is our great pleasure to share them with you online. Click the links (above) to view the full images and a slideshow of the images. Here are some additional links (below) referring to David Friedman's biography and his portrait series of famous chess masters.

David Friedman (1893-1980) Full Biography: http://www.jewishgen.org/BohMor/Wall-of Fame/friedmann.html

Köpfe berühmter Schachmeister (Portraits of Famous Chess Masters)
http://www.kb.nl/vak/schaak/portretten/friedmann/index-en.html
(Koninklijke Bibliotheek - National library of the Netherlands)

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