Holocaust survivor shares on TikTok to educate young people

MORRISTOWN, N.J. (AP) — Holocaust survivor Tova Friedman is a TikTok star at age 85, thanks to her 17-year-old grandson.

In the family living room in Morristown, New Jersey, he records short videos of his grandmother reminiscing about life in 1944 and 1945 when she was a 6-year-old child at the Auschwitz death camp in Nazi-occupied Poland. She also discusses her experiences before and after the camp.

They say videos on her account have garnered 75 million views since the duo started posting in September 2021.

“It really snowballed,” said Friedman. “And then we realized it was a fabulous medium for the Holocaust, for young people who don’t want to read the books, who don’t like the classes in school, who don’t like the way the teachers teach or whatever, who are bored with it, or some who never heard of it. Here they are, listening.”