He attended the universities of Munich, Heidelberg, Cologne and Erlangen, receiving his doctorate in philosophy in 1925 with a dissertation on Moses Mendelssohn.
For a time, he conducted scholarly research in Königs Wusterhausen and in 1932, he was hired to be the director of Landschulheim Caputh.
Following Kristallnacht, in November 1938, England agreed to accept 10,000 refugee children and a series of Kindertransports were set up.
The relationship with Essinger, who had been the sole headmistress of the school since its inception in Germany in 1926, was difficult and Friedmann left.
He continued to lecture on Jewish history, speaking at Leo Baeck College and City Lit.