Leon Greenman
Encyclopedia
Leon Greenman OBE was a British
anti-fascism
campaigner and survivor of the Auschwitz concentration camp
. He gave regular talks to school children about his experience at Auschwitz, and also wrote a book, An Englishman in Auschwitz
.
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 camp, at the E715 labour sub-camp of Stalag VIIIB associated with the IG Farben
works. Other British people held within the extermination camp at Auschwitz included Sergeant Tex Banwell of the 10th Battalion, The Parachute Regiment, and Jane Haining
, matron of the Church of Scotland
's Jewish mission in Budapest
.
in the East End of London
, which at the time had many Jewish residents. He had two brothers and three sisters. His mother's family were originally Russian Jews. His mother died when he was two years old, and, aged 5, he went to live in Rotterdam
with his father's Dutch parents. He trained as a boxer
, and returned to London where he became a barber
. 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, the couple settled there. Greenman joined his father-in-law's bookselling business, often travelling to London. He considered returning to live in England in the 1930s, 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 on 17 March 1940. Less than two months later, on 10 May 1940, the Nazis
invaded the Netherlands
.
Greenman described travelling for 36 hours across Europe with no food or water, to the death camp at Birkenau where upon arrival the snow outside the train was littered with suitcases abandoned by people who had arrived before them. His wife and son were taken to one side and were murdered in the gas chambers
almost immediately. Greenman was sent in a different direction, one of 50 men selected to be labourers.
Greenman was tattoo
ed on his arm with prisoner number 98288, and became a slave labourer. Surviving another sorting after 6 weeks, he worked as a barber, and sang to the kapos
in the evenings. He was short - 5'2" or 158 cm - 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, where he was subjected to medical experiments. When the camp was evacuated in early 1945, Greenman was sent on a 90-kilometre death march
to Gleiwitz, and then taken in open cattle trucks to Buchenwald. There, Greenman found that the camp guards had fled on 11 April, and the camp was soon liberated by the American 3rd Army. Of the 700 on the train from Westerbork, only Greenman and one other man survived.
, working on a market stall for 40 years, and also performing as a tenor
under the stage name
"Leon Maure".
After hearing Colin Jordan
, the leader of the National Front
, addressing a rally in Trafalgar 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 in Finchley
, 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 was merged with that of the Jewish Museum
in Camden
(now London Jewish Museum), where upon reopening in 2010 Greeman's item formed a permanent gallery, the Holocaust Gallery.
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 the British National Party
headquarters in Welling
in south-east London. He also actively supported the Anti-Nazi League
and Unite Against Fascism
.
He received an OBE for services against racism in 1998. He never remarried.
He suffered a heart attack in 2006, and received a pacemaker
. He died in Barnet Hospital, having contracted pneumonia
after an operation on a broken bone sustained in a fall. He was buried at East Ham Cemetery, near his father and two siblings. It was then suggested that a memorial should be erected in Valentines Park
peace garden in Ilford.
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
anti-fascism
Anti-fascism
Anti-fascism is the opposition to fascist ideologies, groups and individuals, such as that of the resistance movements during World War II. The related term antifa derives from Antifaschismus, which is German for anti-fascism; it refers to individuals and groups on the left of the political...
campaigner and survivor of the Auschwitz concentration camp
Auschwitz concentration camp
Concentration camp Auschwitz was a network of Nazi concentration and extermination camps built and operated by the Third Reich in Polish areas annexed by Nazi Germany during World War II...
. He gave regular talks to school children about his experience at Auschwitz, and also wrote a book, An Englishman in Auschwitz
An Englishman in Auschwitz
An Englishman in Auschwitz is a book written by Leon Greenman, a Holocaust survivor. The book details his experiences in the Auschwitz concentration camp....
.
Greenman was often reported to be the only Englishman sent to Auschwitz. However, hundreds of British prisoners of war
Prisoner of war
A prisoner of war or enemy prisoner of war is a person, whether civilian or combatant, who is held in custody by an enemy power during or immediately after an armed conflict...
were held close to the Auschwitz camp, at the E715 labour sub-camp of Stalag VIIIB associated with the IG Farben
IG Farben
I.G. Farbenindustrie AG was a German chemical industry conglomerate. Its name is taken from Interessen-Gemeinschaft Farbenindustrie AG . The company was formed in 1925 from a number of major companies that had been working together closely since World War I...
works. Other British people held within the extermination camp at Auschwitz included Sergeant Tex Banwell of the 10th Battalion, The Parachute Regiment, and Jane Haining
Jane Haining
Jane Haining was a Church of Scotland missionary. She worked in Budapest, where she was arrested by the Nazis in 1944. She died in the concentration camp at Auschwitz later that year.-Early life:...
, matron of the Church of Scotland
Church of Scotland
The Church of Scotland, known informally by its Scots language name, the Kirk, is a Presbyterian church, decisively shaped by the Scottish Reformation....
's Jewish mission in Budapest
Budapest
Budapest is the capital of Hungary. As the largest city of Hungary, it is the country's principal political, cultural, commercial, industrial, and transportation centre. In 2011, Budapest had 1,733,685 inhabitants, down from its 1989 peak of 2,113,645 due to suburbanization. The Budapest Commuter...
.
Early life
Greenman was born in WhitechapelWhitechapel
Whitechapel is a built-up inner city district in the London Borough of Tower Hamlets, London, England. It is located east of Charing Cross and roughly bounded by the Bishopsgate thoroughfare on the west, Fashion Street on the north, Brady Street and Cavell Street on the east and The Highway on the...
in the East End of London
East End of London
The East End of London, also known simply as the East End, is the area of London, England, United Kingdom, east of the medieval walled City of London and north of the River Thames. Although not defined by universally accepted formal boundaries, the River Lea can be considered another boundary...
, which at the time had many Jewish residents. He had two brothers and three sisters. His mother's family were originally Russian Jews. His mother died when he was two years old, and, aged 5, he went to live in Rotterdam
Rotterdam
Rotterdam is the second-largest city in the Netherlands and one of the largest ports in the world. Starting as a dam on the Rotte river, Rotterdam has grown into a major international commercial centre...
with his father's Dutch parents. He trained as a boxer
Boxing
Boxing, also called pugilism, is a combat sport in which two people fight each other using their fists. Boxing is supervised by a referee over a series of between one to three minute intervals called rounds...
, and returned to London where he became a barber
Barber
A barber is someone whose occupation is to cut any type of hair, and to shave or trim the beards of men. The place of work of a barber is generally called a barbershop....
. 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, the couple settled there. Greenman joined his father-in-law's bookselling business, often travelling to London. He considered returning to live in England in the 1930s, but decided to stay in the Netherlands after hearing Neville Chamberlain
Neville Chamberlain
Arthur Neville Chamberlain FRS was a British Conservative politician who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from May 1937 to May 1940. Chamberlain is best known for his appeasement foreign policy, and in particular for his signing of the Munich Agreement in 1938, conceding the...
's promise of "peace for our time" on the radio in 1938. His son, Barnett, known as Barney, was born on 17 March 1940. Less than two months later, on 10 May 1940, the Nazis
Nazi Germany
Nazi Germany , also known as the Third Reich , but officially called German Reich from 1933 to 1943 and Greater German Reich from 26 June 1943 onward, is the name commonly used to refer to the state of Germany from 1933 to 1945, when it was a totalitarian dictatorship ruled by...
invaded the Netherlands
Battle of the Netherlands
The Battle of the Netherlands was part of Case Yellow , the German invasion of the Low Countries and France during World War II. The battle lasted from 10 May 1940 until 14 May 1940 when the main Dutch forces surrendered...
.
Second 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, who, fearing that Germans may find out that he had helped a Jew, destroyed the passport. Greenman and his family were sent to the camp at Westerbork on 8 October 1942 to be deported. Despite Greenman's protestations 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.Greenman described travelling for 36 hours across Europe with no food or water, to the death camp at Birkenau where upon arrival the snow outside the train was littered with suitcases abandoned by people who had arrived before them. His wife and son were taken to one side and were murdered in the gas chambers
Gas Chambers
Gas Chambers is a fast, hollow and shallow point break type of wave. Being that it is a high performance wave it is well suited for the average to pro level surfer. Gas Chambers is located on the North Shore of Oahu about a 1/4 of a mile north of Ehukai Beach Park and 1/2 a mile west of Sunset...
almost immediately. Greenman was sent in a different direction, one of 50 men selected to be labourers.
Greenman was tattoo
Tattoo
A tattoo is made by inserting indelible ink into the dermis layer of the skin to change the pigment. Tattoos on humans are a type of body modification, and tattoos on other animals are most commonly used for identification purposes...
ed on his arm with prisoner number 98288, and became a slave labourer. Surviving another sorting after 6 weeks, he worked as a barber, and sang to the kapos
Kapo
Kapo can refer to one of the following:* Kapo , a Hawaiian goddess or god* Kapo , a privileged prisoner who served as a barracks supervisor/warder or led work details in a Nazi concentration camp...
in the evenings. He was short - 5'2" or 158 cm - 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, where he was subjected to medical experiments. When the camp was evacuated in early 1945, Greenman was sent on a 90-kilometre death march
Death march
A death march is a forced march of prisoners of war or other captives or deportees. Those marching must walk over long distances for an extremely long period of time and are not supplied with food or water...
to Gleiwitz, and then taken in open cattle trucks to Buchenwald. There, Greenman found that the camp guards had fled on 11 April, and the camp was soon liberated by the American 3rd Army. Of the 700 on the train from Westerbork, only Greenman and one other man survived.
Later life
Greenman returned to Rotterdam immediately after the war, and he moved back to England in November 1945. He took home uniforms and other mementos of his imprisonment. He lived in IlfordIlford
Ilford is a large cosmopolitan town in East London, England and the administrative headquarters of the London Borough of Redbridge. It is located northeast of Charing Cross and is one of the major metropolitan centres identified in the London Plan. It forms a significant commercial and retail...
, working on a market stall for 40 years, and also performing as a tenor
Tenor
The tenor is a type of male singing voice and is the highest male voice within the modal register. The typical tenor voice lies between C3, the C one octave below middle C, to the A above middle C in choral music, and up to high C in solo work. The low extreme for tenors is roughly B2...
under the stage name
Stage name
A stage name, also called a showbiz name or screen name, is a pseudonym used by performers and entertainers such as actors, wrestlers, comedians, and musicians.-Motivation to use a stage name:...
"Leon Maure".
After hearing Colin Jordan
Colin Jordan
John Colin Campbell Jordan was a leading figure in postwar Neo-Nazism in Britain. In the far-right nationalist circles of the 1960s, Jordan represented the most explicitly 'Nazi' inclination in his open use of the styles and symbols of the Third Reich.Through organisations such as the National...
, the leader of the National Front
British National Front
The National Front is a far right, white-only political party whose major political activities took place during the 1970s and 1980s. Its popularity peaked in the 1979 general election, when it received 191,719 votes ....
, addressing a rally in Trafalgar Square
Trafalgar Square
Trafalgar Square is a public space and tourist attraction in central London, England, United Kingdom. At its centre is Nelson's Column, which is guarded by four lion statues at its base. There are a number of statues and sculptures in the square, with one plinth displaying changing pieces of...
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 in Finchley
Finchley
Finchley is a district in Barnet in north London, England. Finchley is on high ground, about north of Charing Cross. It formed an ancient parish in the county of Middlesex, becoming a municipal borough in 1933, and has formed part of Greater London since 1965...
, 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 was merged with that of the Jewish Museum
Jewish Museum (Camden)
The Jewish Museum London is a museum of Jewish life and art in the London Borough of Camden, on the northern fringes of central London, England.-History:...
in Camden
London Borough of Camden
In 1801, the civil parishes that form the modern borough were already developed and had a total population of 96,795. This continued to rise swiftly throughout the 19th century, as the district became built up; reaching 270,197 in the middle of the century...
(now London Jewish Museum), where upon reopening in 2010 Greeman's item formed a permanent gallery, the Holocaust Gallery.
He also campaigned against the far right
Far right
Far-right, extreme right, hard right, radical right, and ultra-right are terms used to discuss the qualitative or quantitative position a group or person occupies within right-wing politics. Far-right politics may involve anti-immigration and anti-integration stances towards groups that are...
, regularly receiving threats of violence as a result. In 1993, he joined the demonstration calling for the closure of the British National Party
British National Party
The British National Party is a British far-right political party formed as a splinter group from the National Front by John Tyndall in 1982...
headquarters in Welling
Welling
Welling is a district in the London Borough of Bexley, South East London. It is a suburban development situated between Shooter's Hill and Bexleyheath north of the A2 road and 10.5 miles east south-east of Charing Cross.-History:...
in south-east London. He also actively supported the Anti-Nazi League
Anti-Nazi League
The Anti-Nazi League was an organisation set up in 1977 on the initiative of the Socialist Workers Party with sponsorship from some trade unions and the endorsement of a list of prominent people to oppose the rise of far-right groups in the United Kingdom. It was wound down in 1981...
and Unite Against Fascism
Unite Against Fascism
Unite Against Fascism is an anti-fascist pressure group in the United Kingdom, with support from politicians of all mainstream UK political parties...
.
He received an OBE for services against racism in 1998. He never remarried.
He suffered a heart attack in 2006, and received a pacemaker
Pacemaker
An artificial pacemaker is a medical device that uses electrical impulses to regulate the beating of the heart.Pacemaker may also refer to:-Medicine:...
. He died in Barnet Hospital, having contracted pneumonia
Pneumonia
Pneumonia is an inflammatory condition of the lung—especially affecting the microscopic air sacs —associated with fever, chest symptoms, and a lack of air space on a chest X-ray. Pneumonia is typically caused by an infection but there are a number of other causes...
after an operation on a broken bone sustained in a fall. He was buried at East Ham Cemetery, near his father and two siblings. It was then suggested that a memorial should be erected in Valentines Park
Valentines Park
Valentines Park is, at , the largest green space in the London Borough of Redbridge, between Ilford and Gants Hill. It was acquired in various purchases and gifts of land, starting in 1898 and culminating in the 1920s...
peace garden in Ilford.
External links
- Auschwitz survivor dies, The HinduThe HinduThe Hindu is an Indian English-language daily newspaper founded and continuously published in Chennai since 1878. According to the Audit Bureau of Circulations, it has a circulation of 1.46 million copies as of December 2009. The enterprise employed over 1,600 workers and gross income reached $40...
, 9 March 2008 - BBC NEWS - An Englishman in Auschwitz: Pictures
- The Holocaust Gallery at the London Jewish Museum