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What I looked like as a child.

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An image of what I look like today.

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I immigrated to the United States during the time of the Civil Rights Movement. Since I was unfamiliar with certain things about the country, I had no idea about segregation. One day I went to ride the bus into Atlanta, where I was stationed at a base just outside the city. I was startled when the driver came up to me and said "You can't sit there, the back seats are for Negroes. Please move to the front of the bus" It was like his words hit we with a hard slap, as this reminded me of what it was like to be Jewish in Poland. Even though we couldn't use public transportation and the context was very different, I wondered why this prejudice and inequality existed in a country I had already come to love.

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1. I served in the U.S. Army during the Korean War after I came to America. (1950-1953)
2. After graduating from California State University LA in 1958, I also went on to receive an honorary doctorate degree from Chapman University in 2011.
3. I married a woman by the name of Lis in the summer of 1965.
4. I was very hesitant to speak of my memories, until the movie Schindler's List came out and everyone wanted to hear first hand accounts.
5. My brother, Tsalig, was lost while on a transport with his girlfriend. After the war, I looked desperately for him but unfortunately no one survived the specific transport he was on. Even though he is gone, his name lives on through my son and grandson's middle names.

My wife and I are pictured below.

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Just like I mentioned before, Oskar Schindler was an incredible man. He saved almost 1,200 Jews by giving them employment at his factory. Among those saved happened to be my family. My father started working at his factory after losing his job at a factory near our hometown. After the Nazi's had swept the entire city of Krakow from any Jewish existence, we were all taken to concentration camps, divided by gender. Schindler had opened up a new factory near our concentration camp and ordered the 1,200 people to work for him. He provided a list of all of the names, eventually given the name "Schindler's List". We were taken out of the camp, free from Nazi cruelty. I could never thank Oskar enough for his generosity and heroic actions. If it weren't for him, I would be dead. About 40 years later, the story of Oskar Schindler was written into a book entitled Schindler's Ark. 10 years after the book, a movie was produced with the same plot, but instead it was named Schindler's List. Before this movie's popularity, I never spoke of my experience. Since 1993, when the film was released, people have been curious to hear a first-hand account. I wrote my memoir to show those people what a horrible time this was and how it affected my life.

My name (Leib Lejson) shown below on the list.

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Championship Trophy - First Hand Accounts

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Championship Trophy - First Hand Accounts

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I believe I'm best known for surviving the Holocaust, while also being the youngest worker on Schindler's List. In my later years of life I recited all of my past horrific experiences in a New York Times Bestselling book I wrote by the title of, The Boy on the Wooden Box. After viewing the movie Schindler's List, I was compelled to share my difficulties with the world.

Pictured below - My siblings during the year of 1930. (Pictured from top left, clockwise) Tsalig, Hershel, Chanah, David, and Pesza.

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This was one of the scariest moments of my life; hiding behind a shed for two days, not knowing if my friends and I would be found or slaughtered. It was extremely cramped and we could barely breathe.

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Before I arrived in America, Oskar Schindler, the man who was credited with saving the lives of about 1,200 people from the Jewish community, was an important role model to me. Since I was a young boy when I experienced the Holocaust, Oskar Schindler's heroic acts inspired me to come to America for a better life where I had more opportunities. If Schindler hadn't provided me with a job, food, and shelter and helped me escape the concentration camps, I wouldn't have been the hardworking, compassionate, and caring man I am today. Check out the website link below which describes my mentor's life.

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Oskar Schindler (1908-1974) was born on April 28, 1908, in Svitavy (Zwittau), Moravia, at that time a province of the Austro-Hungarian Monarchy. An ethnic German and a Catholic, he remained in Svitavy during the interwar period and held Czech citizenship after Moravia was incorporated into the newly established Czechoslovak Republic in 1918.