Gotfryd, Bernard.

Bernard Gotfryd was born in 1924 in Radom, Poland and became interested in photography at an early age. When World War II broke out, Gotfryd found work as an apprentice in a photography studio in the Radom ghetto. While working in the studio, he began aiding the Polish underground by passing on photographs taken by Nazi officers of war atrocities. After an unsuccessful escape attempt in October 1943, Gotfryd was apprehended and shipped to Maidanek. By the wars end, Gotfryd had survived six concentration camps. In 1947, Gotfryd emigrated to the United States where he worked as a photographer and studied photojournalism. In 1957, he joined the staff of Newsweek where he worked for more than thirty years. After covering the Holocaust Survivors Gathering in Washington, D.C., in April 1983, Gotfryd was moved to write about his own experiences, which were published as a collection, titled Anton the Dove Fancier and Other Tales of the Holocaust.

From the description of Bernard Gotfryd Photograph Collection [graphic] / Bernard Gotfryd. 1960-2008 (bulk 1961-1990) (New-York Historical Society Library). WorldCat record id: 479749117

Bernard Gotfryd was born in Radom Poland in 1924. At the start of WWII, Gotfryd entered an apprenticeship at a photography studio in the Radom Ghetto while still a teenager. During the war, Gotfryd was involved in the Polish resistance and was subsequently imprisoned for his involvement. By the end of the war, he had survived imprisonment in six different concentration camps. Gotfryd immigrated to the United States in 1947 where he continued pursuing a career as photographer and photojournalist including while serving in the U.S Army. He married his wife Gina in 1952 and they had two children, Eva and Howard. In 1957, he was hired as a photojournalist for Newsweek and remained at the magazine for over 30 years. Gotfryd's career took him all over the world where he documented people, places, and events for Newsweek. In 1990, Gotfryd published Anton the Dove Fancier and Other Tales of the Holocaust, which chronicled many of his experiences during WWII. As of 2011, Gotfryd lives in New York and continues to lecture at local schools about his experiences during the war.

From the guide to the Bernard Gotfryd color slides and photographs, circa 1965 to 1983, (Brooklyn Historical Society)