- Leon Greenman
Infobox Person
name = Leon Greenman
image_size =
caption =
birth_date = birth date|1910|12|18|df=yes
birth_place =Whitechapel ,London ,United Kingdom [ [http://www.freebmd.org.uk England and Wales Births 1837-1983] ] flagicon|UK
death_date = death date and age|2008|3|7|1910|12|18|df=yes
death_place =
occupation =Anti-fascism campaignerLeon Greenman
OBE (18 December 1910 –7 March 2008 ) was a Britishanti-fascism campaigner and survivor of theAuschwitz concentration camp .cite news | first= | last= | title=Leon Greenman, the only Englishman sent to Auschwitz, dies | date=March 8, 2008 | publisher=International Herald Tribune | url = http://www.iht.com/articles/ap/2008/03/07/europe/EU-GEN-Britain-Obit-Auschwitz.php | accessdate = 2008-03-08] He gave regular talks to school children about his experiences in later life, and also wrote a book, "An Englishman in Auschwitz ", about the camp.cite news | first= | last= | title=Only Englishman in WWII death camp dies: museum | date=March 8, 2008 | publisher=Agence France-Presse | url = http://afp.google.com/article/ALeqM5g_nqLeQ_tO_6yUJyluC-zd_HLBeQ | accessdate = 2008-03-08]Greenman was often reported to be the only Englishman sent to Auschwitz. However, hundreds of British prisoners of war were held close to the Auschwitz concentration camp, at the E715 labour sub-camp of
Stalag VIIIB associated with theIG Farben works. [ [http://www.mqmagazine.co.uk/issue-17/p-47.php] ] Other British people held in the Auschwitz concentration camp included SergeantTex Banwell of the 10th Battalion,The Parachute Regiment , [ [http://www.pegasusarchive.org/arnhem/tex_banwell.htm] ] [ [http://www.oxforddnb.com/view/article/72648] ] andJane Haining , matron of theChurch of Scotland 's Jewish mission inBudapest . [ [http://www.oxforddnb.com/view/articleHL/48816?docPos=12&anchor=match] ]Early life
Greenman was born in
Whitechapel in theEast End of London , which at the time was an area with a large number ofJewish residents. He was one of six children - three brothers and three sisters. His mother's family were originallyRussia n Jews. His mother died when he was two years old, and, aged 5, he went to live inRotterdam with his father's parents, who were Dutch. He trained as a boxer, and returned to London where be became abarber . He also enjoyed singing, and met his future wife Esther ("Else") van Dam at an amateur operatic society in the 1930s. They married in 1935.After honeymooning in Rotterdam, where his wife also had family, that was where the couple made their home. Greenman joined his father-in-law's bookselling business, and often travelled to London. He considered returning to live in England in the 1930s, to avoid the gathering clouds of war, but decided to stay in the Netherlands after hearing
Neville Chamberlain 's promise of "peace for our time " on the radio in 1938. His son, Barnett, known as Barney, was born on17 March 1940 . Less than two months later, on10 May 1940 , the Nazis invaded the Netherlands.econd World War
Greenman held a British passport, and had expected that he and his family would be evacuated, but the staff at the British consulate in Rotterdam disappeared and he could not escape. Even so, he expected to remain safe, as the
Geneva Convention protected enemy civilians. He gave his money and passport to a non-Jewish friend to keep them safe, but, fearing that Germans may find out that he had helped a Jew, the friend destroyed the documents. The situation for Jews in the Netherlands gradually worsened, and Greenman and his family were sent to the camp atWesterbork on8 October 1942 to be deported. Despite Greenman's protestations that there had been a mistake - that he was British, and should be released - he and his family joined 700 others on a train out of the Netherlands in January 1943. Proof of his nationality arrived soon after they left.What happened next to Greenman and his family was not unusual for people sent to
Auschwitz andBirkenau . After travelling for 36 hours across Europe with no food or water, they arrived at thedeath camp atBirkenau . The snow outside the train was littered with suitcases abandoned by people who had arrived through before them. His wife and son were taken to one side, joining a queue of women, and Greenman was sent in a different direction, one of 50 men selected to be a labourer. He later discovered that his family were murdered in thegas chambers almost immediately.Greenman was
tattoo ed on his arm with a camp number, 98288, and became a slave labourer. After 6 weeks, the remaining men were sorted. Those who could work were kept alive, and the others were killed. He worked as a barber, and sang to thekapo s in the evenings. He was short - 5'2" - and slightly built, but he later attributed his survival to his physical training and useful skills. He made a promise to God that he would survive and tell others of the suffering in the camps.He was transferred to the
Monowitz industrial complex inside Auschwitz (also known as Auschwitz III) in September 1943. In addition to unremitting hunger, cruelty, and killings, Greenman was subjected to medical experiments. With the tide of war turning, the Russians were pressing the Germans back, and the camp was evacuated in early 1945. In mid-winter, Greenman was sent on a 90-kilometredeath march toGleiwitz , and then taken in open cattle trucks toBuchenwald . But the Allies were getting close, and Greenman found that the camp guards had fled on11 April , and the camp was soon liberated by the American 3rd Army. [ [http://www.news.com.au/story/0,23599,23340083-2,00.html Lone English Auschwitz survivor dies, news.com.au, 8 March 2008] ] Of the 700 on the train from Westerbork, only Greenman and one other man survived.Later life
Greenman returned to Rotterdam after the war, but there was little to keep him there, so he moved back to England in November 1945. He took home uniforms and other mementos of his imprisonment. He lived in
Ilford , working on a market stall for 40 years, and also performing as atenor singer under thestage name "Leon Maure".After hearing
Colin Jordan , the leader of the National Front, addressing a rally inTrafalgar Square in 1962, Greenman determined to tell his story to anyone who would listen. Late into his life, he would visit schools to bear witness to the holocaust, showing them his tattoo and telling them his story. He donated photographs and mementos to the Jewish Museum inFinchley , which opened a permanent gallery showing his collection in 1995. An accompanying book, "Leon Greenman Auschwitz Survivor 98288", was published in 1996. He would often visit the museum to recount his experiences, and also guided tours around the camp at Auschwitz. The museum's collection is being merged with that of the Jewish Museum in Camden, and a new exhibition will open in Camden in 2008.He also campaigned against the
far right , regularly receiving threats of violence as a result. In 1993, he joined the demonstration calling for the closure of theBritish National Party headquarters inWelling in south-east London. He also actively supported theAnti-Nazi League andUnite Against Fascism .He received an
OBE for services against racism in 1998. He never remarried.He suffered a
heart attack in 2006, and received apacemaker . He died in Barnet Hospital, having contractedpneumonia after an operation on a broken bone sustained in a fall. He is to be buried atEast Ham Cemetery , where his father and two siblings are interred. [ [http://www.thejc.com/home.aspx?ParentId=m11s18&SecId=18&AId=58750&ATypeId=1 Shoah educator Greenman dies at 97] , "The Jewish Chronicle ", 14 March 2008] It has been suggested that a memorial should be erected inValentines Park peace garden in Ilford. [ [http://www.ilfordrecorder.co.uk/content/redbridge/recorder/news/story.aspx?brand=RECOnline&category=newsIlford&tBrand=northlondon24&tCategory=newsilford&itemid=WeED20%20Mar%202008%2009%3A36%3A47%3A327 Leon Greenman - why we must honour him] , "Ilford Recorder", 20 March 2008]References
* [http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/comment/obituaries/article3524503.ece Obituary] , "
The Times ", 10 March 2008
* [http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2008/03/10/db1001.xml Obituary] , "Daily Telegraph ", 10 March 2008
* [http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2008/mar/10/secondworldwar Obituary] , "The Guardian ", 10 March 2008
* [http://www.independent.co.uk/news/obituaries/leon-greenman-english-survivor-of-auschwitz-793671.html Obituary] , "The Independent ", 10 March 2008
* [http://www.guardian.co.uk/secondworldwar/story/0,,1389433,00.html An interview with Leon Greenman published on the Guardian's website] , 13 January 2005
* [http://www.thejc.com/home.aspx?ParentId=m12s38&SecId=38&AId=58720&ATypeId=3 Obituary] , "The Jewish Chronicle ", 14 March 2008External links
* [http://www.thehindu.com/2008/03/09/stories/2008030955271600.htm Auschwitz survivor dies] , "
The Hindu ", 9 March 2008
* [http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/shared/spl/hi/pop_ups/03/uk_an_englishman_in_auschwitz/html/1.stm BBC NEWS - An Englishman in Auschwitz: Pictures]
* [http://www.totallyjewish.com/news/national/c-8605/prince-leads-greenman-tributes Prince leads Greenman tributes] , TotallyJewish.com, 13 March 2008
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