1. What does it mean to ‘survive’ the Holocaust?
Surviving survival
What does it mean to ‘survive’ the Holocaust?
Explain to students they will be learning more about Leon Greenman’s later life, after he had retired from work as a market trader and bookseller.
Outline how they will be working with information cards. Through this process they will be aiming to:
Expand knowledge and understanding of Leon’s story and mission in later life.
Consider the long-term impact of the Holocaust on those who survived
Explore whether life can ever be ordinary and fulfilling after experiencing genocide
Note the need to begin by establishing what is known about Leon so far.

2. What do you remember about Leon Greenman?
Remind students of the original encounter with Leon through this object. To help students recall the journey they made in learning about Leon through this object, you may ask:
What was life like for Leon before the war?
Where did he meet his wife?
What was his job?
When was his son born?
Where were they living?
What changed everything for them?

3. What happened to Else and Barney?
Direct students to recalling what happened to Else and Barney. Through directed questioning, revisit the family’s deportation from Westerbork and what happened to the Greenmans on their arrival.

4. What happened after Leon was liberated?
Referring to the ‘Liberation’ and ‘Home’ materials as well as to The First Year lesson, re-establish what happened to Leon after the war.
You might ask when Leon was liberated and from where, and his encounter with his father on returning home.
You could also raise the question of when Leon gave his first account of his wartime experiences.

5. Leon’s later years
How did the legacy of the Holocaust continue to feature in Leon Greenman’s later life?
What did the future hold for Leon?
What was the best he could hope for?
How would he try to make a meaningful life for himself?
What do we understand about survival?
What would be Leon’s legacy?
Suggest to students there is much still to find out about Leon’s life, particularly his later years when he was in his 80s and 90s.
Forward the questions on this slide as examples of some of the questions which are still to be addressed in their encounters with Leon, and outline the activity ‘Learning more about Leon’.
Distribute the information packs and instruct students to use these to begin to find out more about Leon.

6. Reflecting on Leon’s later life
What was Leon’s mission in later life and how did he pursue this? How did others respond to activities?
Why did Leon devote his life to reliving his memories of the Holocaust?
Is it possible for someone to lead a ‘normal’ life after something as traumatic as genocide?
Summarise to students the activity of creating a poster capturing Leon’s activities during his later years. Explain how this needs to also address one of the additional questions outlined on the slide.
After a short time, ask students to stick their posters on the walls of the classroom. Distribute post-it notes to the students, and explain the premise of the ‘silent conversation’ exercise. Once completed, allow students and yourself the opportunity to look over what has been said before discussing the responses students have had.

7. Invite students to open the envelope marked ‘Legacy’ and remove the sheet within it.
Ask students to follow as you read the poem, and draw their attention to where it was discovered.
Direct students to the task of formulating a title for the poem, and after a few moments collect suggestions and rationales.

8. ‘Deeper layers of meaning’?
What is survival?
What is the legacy left by the Holocaust on survivors?
What is Leon’s legacy?

9. What does it mean to ‘survive’ the Holocaust?
Surviving survival
What does it mean to ‘survive’ the Holocaust?
Acknowledgements
Lesson Plan and Materials created by Ruth-Anne Lenga
© Ruth-Anne Lenga, 2014, All Rights Reserved
Additional editing by Andy Pearce
Artwork by Cheryl Lowe
Leon’s poem is used with kind permission from Ruth-Anne Lenga.