In recognition of International Holocaust Remembrance Day, Supervisor Joseph Saladino and members of the Oyster Bay Town Board honored Pearl (Zylberblech) Friend of Woodbury at Town Hall. Pearl was joined by her family, congregants of Woodbury Jewish Center, and Rabbi Jason Fruithandler.
In 1939, Pearl was 11 years old when the Nazis invaded her hometown in Poland. Her father and two uncles were taken by the Nazis on death march along with 6,000 Jewish men. Her 6-year-old brother, Chiel, was murdered by the Nazis, as her mother was forced to watch. Pearl and her mother, Anna, miraculously survived Auschwitz and five labor camps. They were transferred to Tereizenstadt with 128 Jewish women to be executed. A young Jewish tank commander, in the Russian Army, intercepted German Army radio communications and freed Pearl, her mother and others for execution in the camp. Pearl discovered that her father and uncles were alive and were later reunited in Poland. Upon arriving home, the young Jewish tank commander – Philip Friend – asked Pearl’s father for her hand in marriage. They married and immigrated to the United States in 1949. Pearl and Philip were married for 72 years, and blessed with two children, five grandchildren and seven great-grandchildren. Philip passed away in 2019.
Monday, January 27, 2025 marked the liberation of Auschwitz, one of the most infamous and deadliest concentration camps of the Holocaust. This meaningful awareness initiative, especially with events that continue to unfold in the State of Israel and anti-Semitism on the rise globally, resonates closely with all of us here in our Town of Oyster Bay. In recognition of the six million murdered during the Holocaust, Town Hall is illuminated in Gold in recognition of International Holocaust Remembrance Day.
Credit: Town of Oyster Bay