Born in New York City in 1922, Frieda graduated from Brooklyn College, the National Hebrew School and the Downtown Talmud Torah. She came to British Mandatory Palestine in February 1947 on the “Marine Carp” as one of a group of students planning to study at the Hebrew University. Her shipmates were mostly veterans of World War II, studying under the G.I. Bill of Rights. Among them were Sam Klausner, and Moshe Brodetsky. Others were members of Zionist youth groups who needed student visas from the Mandatory government to enter Palestine at that time.
Before long they were all caught up in the Yishuv’s struggle for survival and independence. Frieda joined the Haganah and served as a practical nurse in local hospitals during the siege of Jerusalem. After the state was declared she served in the IDF Medical Corps. When she finished her service at the end of the War of Independence, she took a one-year course and trained to become a social worker.
Frieda met her husband to be, Asher Zeira, in Jerusalem during the siege. Regrettably, he was soon taken as a prisoner of war in Jordan. They married in 1949 and she has lived in Israel since then.