[1] Friedenson was born in Łódź, Poland in April, 1922, to Rabbi Eliezer Gershon, an activist for Agudath Israel of Poland and the editor of the Beth Jacob Journal, curricula used throughout the Bais Yaakov movement in pre-World War II Europe.
They were smuggled out of the ghetto and subsequently ended up spending several years in the slave labor camp of Starchowicz, before it was liquidated.
Joseph endured death marches, confinement in Ohrdruf and several other concentration camps, and was finally liberated from Buchenwald in April, 1945, by the United States Army.
The couple was reunited several months later, spent several years in post-war Germany working to help other survivors rebuild their lives, and immigrated to the United States in 1951 where Joseph joined Agudath Israel of America.
[5][6] His son-in-law, Rabbi Yosef Chaim Golding,[1] authored his biography titled Faith amid the Flames, published by ArtScroll publication.