{"id":21019,"date":"2024-01-09T10:21:30","date_gmt":"2024-01-09T10:21:30","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/jewishmuseum.org.uk\/?p=21019"},"modified":"2024-01-09T10:30:53","modified_gmt":"2024-01-09T10:30:53","slug":"jewish-museum-london-displays-items-from-leon-greenmans-life-at-national-holocaust-centre-and-museum-and-loans-greenman-archive-to-nottingham-university","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/jewishmuseum.org.uk\/2024\/01\/09\/jewish-museum-london-displays-items-from-leon-greenmans-life-at-national-holocaust-centre-and-museum-and-loans-greenman-archive-to-nottingham-university\/","title":{"rendered":"Jewish Museum London displays items from Leon Greenman\u2019s life at National Holocaust Centre and Museum, and loans Greenman archive to Nottingham University"},"content":{"rendered":"
Jewish Museum London is proud to display a selection of items and images from Holocaust survivor Leon Greenman\u2019s life within the gallery dedicated in his honour at the National Holocaust Centre and Museum.<\/a><\/p>\n London-born Greenman was a father and a husband living in the Netherlands at the time of Nazi occupation. He was unable to prove his and his family\u2019s British identity and they were first sent to the deportation camp Westerbork and then on to Auschwitz-Birkenau where his wife Else and his son Barney were murdered upon arrival. Greenman survived 18 months of concentration and labour camps and made a promise to tell his story to the outside world \u2013 a promise he kept from 1946 until his death in March 2008.<\/p>\n The gallery collection focuses on the theme of determination, a defining trait throughout the life of Leon Greenman. The display celebrates his dedication to telling the world about the Holocaust, including several signs created to advertise his public speaking work educating communities about the Holocaust, including engagements with the Anti-Nazi League and Oxford University Jewish Society. The collection also features items from key milestones in Leon\u2019s life: a wooden truck made by Greenman for his son Barney, the uniform he wore at Buchenwald, the final camp he was held prisoner, and his OBE medal, awarded in 1998 for his services to education.<\/p>\n Since becoming a museum without walls in September, Jewish Museum London\u2019s collections can now be experienced in a growing number of venues, including Museum of London Docklands, the Faith Museum in County Durham, and JW3. In December, Jewish Museum London was delighted to announce the award of funding from The National Lottery Heritage Fund of \u00a3231,000 for the project Jewish Museum London on the Move<\/em>. This generous grant will support the development of a new operating model for museum activities to be delivered in the community after relocating from the former building in Camden, as the museum works towards its vision of a new permanent home.<\/p>\n The museum is also grateful to the University of Nottingham\u2019s Manuscripts and Collections department for hosting the Leon Greenman archive during this period of transition. The archive contains a range of material relating to Greenman\u2019s life, including items which have previously been displayed or used in research, and uncatalogued material which will be methodically registered over the coming years.<\/p>\n Jewish Museum London will host a free broadcast for secondary schools<\/a> on Friday 26th January, the day before Holocaust Memorial Day, exploring this year\u2019s theme, the Fragility of Freedom, by looking at objects from the museum\u2019s collection. This broadcast will include a live candle lighting in memory of the victims of the Holocaust, Nazi persecution and subsequent genocides.<\/p>\n Jewish Museum London Chair Nick Viner said:<\/strong> \u201cLeon Greenman\u2019s distinctive British testimony, and his willingness over his life to share it, provides an immensely important contribution to our understanding of the Holocaust. At Jewish Museum London, as part of our commitment to challenging antisemitism through education and sustaining the legacy of Leon Greenman, we\u2019re delighted to be collaborating with the National Holocaust Centre and Museum, and with the University of Nottingham. Partnerships such as these are vital to our work as a museum without walls, engaging audiences nationally in the heritage and history of British Jews, as we continue our transition towards a future museum.\u201d<\/p>\n Marc Cave, Director, National Holocaust Museum said:<\/strong>\u00a0\u201cWe\u2019re honoured to house these objects during JML\u2019s\u00a0\u2018museum without walls\u2019 period. They are an emotive addition to our Leon Greenman Determination gallery and this is a fitting moment for our two museums to dovetail once more. Right now, anti-Jewish racism hangs in the air. Leon drew on his Holocaust experiences to power his brave anti-racism campaigning in England. In turn, we will draw on Leon\u2019s memory to power our fight against the anti-Jewish conspiracy theories and casual violence swilling around our streets and so called \u2018peace protests\u2019 today.\u201d<\/p>\n <\/p>\n For press enquiries, please contact David Lasserson and Eleanor Flanagan at Brunswick Arts: jewishmuseum@brunswickgroup.com<\/a><\/p>\n <\/p>\n