Gift of Ethel Freiman in memory of Dr. Philip Freiman
Id no. 2001.A.488, Other
US Army doctor Philip Freiman served in the 1st Infantry Division of the US Army in World War II as an army doctor. He provided Italian POWs with medical care and convinced the US Army to feed them pasta, which they missed. As a thank you for his work, they gave him gifts such as walking sticks, boxes, and animal figurines.
Philip Freiman was born in 1905 in Warsaw, Poland. He came to the United States in 1911 with his mother, brother Victor, and sister Pearl, joining his father who had come to the US earlier. Philip?s mother, however, was refused entry to the US and sent back to Poland because of an eye condition, but she was able to return in 1913. Philip graduated from medical school in 1929 and married the artifact donor, Ethel Uhrman, in 1932. In September 1942, he voluntarily enlisted in the US army.