The first year Instruction cards

1. Liberation 1945 11th April At 6pm the American army announced over the loud speakers in Buchenwald, Germany that the concentration camp was liberated. Leon Greenman was one of the people who was now liberated. What would you expect to happen next in the camp? What do you think Leon wanted to do?

Sort 2. The journey ‘home’ …the cards into chronological order, and then return to this card. Consider the timeline you have constructed. What immediately strikes you about these post liberation events? What were Leon’s main physical and emotional needs during this time? Why might Leon have been keen to be interviewed about his experiences so quickly?

3. Reflecting on the evidence Read … and listen to the other materials you have. Work through them in the following order: The Evening Standard article Letter from the Dutch Head of the Concentration Camp Bureau Leon’s first invitation to give his testimony BBC sound recording of Leon in 1945 Consider the material you now have: what extra questions does it raise about Leon and his immediate post-war years as well as his treatment by others?

1946 April 4. Living with the memory Leon gave his testimony to an audience for the first time. This was less than one year after he had been liberated. He continued to give his testimony for the rest of his life. Leon is very unusual in that he spoke so quickly and so often about his Holocaust experiences. Many other survivors only began to give their testimony more recently, often after retirement. Can you think of reasons why people choose to give their testimony? Why do you think that some people did not start talking publically about their experiences until much later in life?

The first year Instruction cards Acknowledgements Lesson plan & materials created by Kay Andrews © Kay Andrews, 2010, All Rights Reserved. Updated 2014. Additional editing by Andy Pearce Artwork by Cheryl Lowe