Johnny Friedlaender was born on June 21, 1912 in what was then Silesia but now Poland.  Those were difficult times and in 1921 the family moved to Breslau (now Wroclaw) in Silesia.  His father was a Pharmacist.  In 1922 Johnny graduated from high school in Wroclaw and was admitted to the Wroclaw Academy of Arts where he studied under Otto Mueller ( one of the early members of the Die Brucke expressionist movement which had a major impact on the evolution of modern art in the 20th Century and the creation of Expressionism).