Born March 1, 1921    |    Piotrkowice (Pietkovitz), Poland

Died October 15, 1984    |    Toronto, Canada 

Family was everything for Edward. He was happiest when his children and grandchildren would gather in the summer for backyard swims.

Edward was one of eight siblings born to Eliezer Frydberg and his wife, whose name is no longer remembered. Edward rarely spoke of his early life and his experiences during the Holocaust. His descendants eventually learned that he had been a prisoner at Auschwitz, where his identity was reduced to the number tattooed on his arm. Edward was on one of the last transports from Auschwitz as the Nazis hastily retreated in the face of the advancing Red Army. The train arrived at the Buchenwald concentration camp on January 26, 1945, just a day before Soviet troops liberated Auschwitz.

Edward and two of his siblings—who are believed to have left Poland before World War II—were the only survivors in their immediate family. Following his liberation, Edward met and married Holocaust survivor Anne Klajner. Their daughter Esther was born in a Displaced Persons camp in Germany. After immigrating to Israel, Edward and Anne welcomed a son, Morrie. In 1960, the Frydbergs settled in Toronto. A plumber, Edward established Bathurst Manor Plumbing and saved enough to purchase a modest suburban home with a backyard pool. He enjoyed watching wrestling and his favourite movies, Rocky and The Jazz Singer. At dinner, Edward invariably insisted on potatoes, the food he had most craved while suffering starvation and overwork at the hands of the Nazis. Together, Anne and Edward welcomed six grandchildren. Sadly, he passed away in his mid-60s after battling esophageal cancer. Edward’s posthumous legacy includes two more grandchildren and 10 great-grandchildren living in Toronto, Calgary and Florida.