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Harry (Gersh) Friedman was born 15 Sept, 1906 in Kopaigorod, Russia. He emigrated with his family to Vera Cruz and then Hermosillo, Mexico in about 1921, then moved to San Francisco in 1926 where he worked for a grocery store. He married Fannya Rose Wax on 7 June 1931, and moved to Twin Falls in 1932 where he had three children, Shirley Ester, Joseph J and Harry Gordon Friedman. He was part owner of the Friedman Bag Company and manager of the Twin Falls, Idaho branch of the company. Although not a rabbi, he was very knowledgeable about Jewish history and religion. He was a member of the Twin Falls Chamber of Commerce and was considered a generous philanthropist.
He was killed 8 Dec 1940, when while traveling to Portland, Oregon to look at a possible site for a Friedman Bag Co. expansion, he stopped by the side of the road to assist a stranded motorist. They were on Snoqualmie Pass in Washington. It was winter, the roads were covered with snow and a large truck (carrying logs?) lost control and crashed into the stranded car and Gersh.
“In the late 1970s, my husband {Harry Friedman Jr} was skiing out west and shared a chairlift (in Colorado or Utah) with a man who turned out to be the person his father was supposed to have met with in Portland. That man never knew why Gersh didn’t show up. When Harry told this to his mother {Fanny Wax Friedman} she became upset that no one had notified him! This was some 38 years later. It’s also interesting that, according to my husband (who was most likely told this by his mother), Gersh was much more interested in expanding the business than his brothers and they didn’t finally establish a Portland branch of the bag company until many years later.”
Notes from Ephraim Friedman as told to Deborah Friedman:
Jack Simplot in Idaho (Potato grower and processor and developer of micron technology) told this story: that the family was so poor and hungry in Kopaigorod that they used to send the youngest children (Harry and Morris) out to the fields to steal food with a candle and blankets over their heads. Jack said this always made him cry.
JR Simplot was a millionaire in Idaho. He and Harry used to experiment with dehydryating and processing potatoes in their kitchen. They were going to be partners. Simplot said that if Harry had lived, FBC would have been a multimillion dollar company and international.
Harry was killed helping someone change a tire on the way to Los Angeles {actually Portland, OR}. He would never have died if they had left him there to get medical treatment, but they put him on a bus {according to Eph Friedman}. To Seattle.
He and Jack Simplot were good friends, Harry was next to youngest of five brothers and went to Idaho, when in his twenties, because he and Sam had a different philosophy and also to befriend the potato growers in Idaho.
Harry was sociable, well spoken, friendly and lively. Everyone liked him.
Shirley says he went to Idaho because he believed that you don’t develop a business long distance. He went to be there first hand, bringing in bags and selling them to the potato and onion dealers. He met Jack Simplot, liked him and felt he was going places and gave Jack the bags so he could consummate his deal and Jack felt that was the deal that gave him his start. This was from a letter from Harry to his wife.”
Video Clip of Harry with his family.
From:
The Zionist Management in the Land of Israel
Telegraph Destination; ZIONICOM
Department of Commerce and Industry
No. 1086/744/b
Jerusalem, in the Month of Chesban, in the Year Tuff Raish Pay” Dalid
22.10. 23
Mr. Harry L. Friedman
Hermosilla
Honorable Sir,
The Zionist Organization in America has sent us a copy of your letter, in which we have the honor to give you a concise answer.
(1). With capital of 20,000 dollars one can build a whole row of industries, and those that are indicated below are the most important and secure ones.
1)Manufacturing of gifs [?] in Haifa.
It is self-evident that I accept that you have 20,000 Amerikanish dollars, which is now the equivalent of 4415 English pound sterling. If you mean Mexican dollars this comes 2081 pound sterling.
2) As we’ve figured out, with 20,000 dollars one can open up a whole lot. It is self-evident that with 20-40 thousand dollars one can make even more.
3) The sum of 20,000 dollars is in my estimation not enough for a clothing factory. A shirt manufacture, which still doesn’t exist in the land, can be established with this sum of money.
4) 20,000 is enough to open up a soap factory and
p. 2
a medium sized misshtab [?], but I would not advise you to do this because the competition is great – there are many people involved in this endeavor.
If you should decide to choose one of these enumerated industries and to settle down here, please write to me ASAP when you’re deciding to come.
Hoikhachtingsfil [?]
Nakhum Tishby
Secretary of Commerce and Industry
