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Leyson. Leon. The Boy on the Wooden Box. Atheneum , 2013.

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Leon's father leaves his family to go work and give his family a better life, he returns once in a while to visit his family.

Quote 1
"My father was one of the few employees to move with the factory. The plan was for my father to go first. When he had enough money, he would bring all of us to Krakow. It took him several years to save that much and to find a suitable place for us to live. In the meantime, my father returned every six months or so to see us" (11)

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Book Summary

Even in the darkest of times - especially in the darkest of times - there is room for strength and bravery. A remarkable memoir from Leon Leyson, one of the youngest children to survive the Holocaust on Oskar Schindler's list.

Leon Leyson (born Leib Lezjon) was only ten years old when the Nazis invaded Poland and his family was forced to relocate to the Krakow ghetto. With incredible luck, perseverance, and grit, Leyson was able to survive the sadism of the Nazis, including that of the demonic Amon Goeth, commandant of Plaszow, the concentration camp outside Krakow. Ultimately, it was the generosity and cunning of one man, a man named Oskar Schindler, who saved Leon Leyson's life, and the lives of his mother, his father, and two of his four siblings, by adding their names to his list of workers in his factory - a list that became world renowned: Schindler's List.

This, the only memoir published by a former Schindler's List child, perfectly captures the innocence of a small boy who goes through the unthinkable. Most notable is the lack of rancor, the lack of venom, and the abundance of dignity in Mr. Leyson's telling. The Boy on the Wooden Box is a legacy of hope, a memoir unlike anything you've ever read.

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Summary and reviews of The Boy on the Wooden Box by Leon Leyson

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Even in the darkest of times - especially in the darkest of times - there is room for strength and bravery. A remarkable memoir from Leon Leyson, one of the youngest children to survive the Holocaust on Oskar Schindler's list.

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#2 - Spring of 1938: The family moves to Kraków

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#2 - Spring of 1938: The family moves to Kraków

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In the spring of 1938  Leons' father had enough money to bring the family to Kraków, so Leons' family moved to Kraków.

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On Schindler's List - Leon Leyson speaks at the University of Manitoba

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Adolf Hitler has made a plan to marginalize Jews.

Quote 2
"October 1938 began with disturbing news. Newspapers, radio broadcasts, and conversations everywhere were full of stories about Germany and Adolf Hitler, Germany's leader, or Führer. Since coming to power in 1933, Hitler and the Nazis wasted no time in consolidating control, silencing their opponents, and beginning the campaign to re-establish Germany as a dominant world power. A central part of Hitler's plan was to marginalize Jews, to make us 'the other'" (40)

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Oskar Schindler | Holocaust Encyclopedia

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Oskar Schindler’s actions to protect Jews during the Holocaust saved over 1,000 Jews from deportation. Learn more about Schindler’s List.

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#4 - November 9-10, 1938: Synagogues burned

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#4 - November 9-10, 1938: Synagogues burned

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On November 9-10 1938 synagogues and torah scroll were burned.

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#5 - September 1, 1939: Germans invasion of Poland begins

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#5 - September 1, 1939: Germans invasion of Poland begins

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Leon hears on the radio that German tanks cross the border into Poland, they had attacked a Polish border town and the invasion of Poland has started by the Germans.

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Leon Leyson, one of the youngest children on the legendary
Schindler's List
, who in the later years of his life devoted his time to recounting his Holocaust experience for countless Chapman University students, died Jan. 12 after a lengthy battle with lymphoma. He was 83.

The world knew him as very possibly the
youngest Schindler's List survivor
. As a child he had to stand atop a box to reach the machinery in the factory of the German industrialist who saved 1,100 Jews from the Nazis by claiming them to staff his factories. But at Chapman Leyson was also a friend and teacher who poured out his story and memories of
Oskar Schindler
so that others might learn what ordinary people can do in extraordinary situations.

"Chapman was one of the very first places where Leon told his story. He always spoke without notes with total genuineness, unaware of how compelling a speaker he was," said Professor Marilyn Harran, Ph.D., director of the
Rodgers Center for Holocaust Education
and a friend of Leyson. "Leon educated young people around the nation and in Canada by sharing the story of 'little Leyson,' as Schindler called him. He contributed more to our Chapman University program in Holocaust education than I can ever describe."

Born Leib Lejzon, Leyson and his family were living in Krakow, Poland, when the Germans invaded and ordered the city's Jews into ghettos. He was 13 when his father brought him into the factory of Oskar Schindler, the German businessman portrayed by Liam Neeson in Steven Spielberg's Oscar-winning movie. Because they were protected by Schindler, he and his parents, older brother and sister survived the war. Two other brothers and all of Leyson's extended family were killed.

After the war Leyson immigrated to the United States, served in the U.S. Army during the Korean War, attended college and went on to become a teacher at Huntington Park High School, where he taught industrial arts and was a guidance counselor.

Only after a
Los Angeles Times
reporter searched him out following the 1993 film premiere of
Schindler's List
did Leyson begin to speak of what he and his family endured during the Nazi occupation. Leyson was a frequent speaker and guest at Chapman, where he spoke to classes and student gatherings, as well as Rodgers Center events. He was always surprised by the impact his talks had on listeners, Harran said.

"The standing ovations he routinely received left Leon stunned and humbled. He never thought he deserved them: he always did," she said.

In recognition of his many contributions, he received an honorary doctorate from the university at the May 2011 Commencement. A memorial service celebrating his life is planned for Sunday, Feb. 17, at noon in the Fish Interfaith Center, Wallace All Faiths Chapel. Donations in his memory may be made to the Leon Leyson Memorial Scholarship Fund.

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Leon Leyson, youngest 'Schindler's List' survivor, honorary doctorate, dies at 83

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Leon Leyson, one of the youngest children on the legendary Schindler's List , who in the later years of his life devoted his time to recounting his Holocaust experience for countless Chapman University students, died Jan. 12 after a lengthy battle with lymphoma. He was 83.

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#6 - September 6, 1939: Germans came to where Leon lives

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#6 - September 6, 1939: Germans came to where Leon lives

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Germans had crossed into Kraków.

Quote 3
"It was September 6, 1939. Less than a week after crossing the border into Poland, the Germans were in Kraków" (49)

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#7 - Leons father gets taken away by two Polish boys

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#7 - Leons father gets taken away by two Polish boys

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The boys beat up the father and take him away into the night

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Leon found out his father was at a jail. Later on his father returned home.

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It was late November and the Germans had given a rule that Jews twelve years and older should wear an armband with a Jewish star.

Quote 4
"Jews who were twelve years and older were required to wear a white armband with a blue Star of David..." (63)

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#10 - Schindlers Job Offering Gives Some Safety 

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#10 - Schindlers Job Offering Gives Some Safety 

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Leons father was sent to a factory, the new owner who was a Nazi wanted a safe opened, so Leons father helped him open it. The Nazi offered him a job, and he excepted it. He didn't get paid, but it gives him and his family safety, a credential so if a German solider wanted to force labor on Leons father, Leons father had a credential against the solider. The Nazi who offered him a job was named Schindler.

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A ghetto is getting built where all the jews remaining are going to be forced to live there.

Quote 5
"I watched as twelve-foot-high walls went up, encircling an area of residential buildings not far from our apartment" (76)

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#12 - Leons family arrives at the ghetto

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#12 - Leons family arrives at the ghetto

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Leons family leaves their apartment with some belongings and then later make it to the ghetto.

Quote 6
"As we approached the gates of the ghetto, I was seized by panic" (77)

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# 13 - May 1942: Forced deportation to the countryside

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# 13 - May 1942: Forced deportation to the countryside

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In May of 1942, the Nazis announced a voluntary transport to the ghetto, but then by June, they demanded some Jews to leave to the countryside.

Quote 7
"By June, however, the Nazis were past the nicety of asking for volunteers; instead, they demanded that all "nonessential" Jews, which meant mainly the elderly and those without jobs, vacate their apartments and leave on the transports" (92)

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#14 - June 8: Leons beloved brother is taken 

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#14 - June 8: Leons beloved brother is taken 

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German soldiers burst into Leon's family building, the father showed them his work identification card, Tsalig--Leon's brother was seventeen, he was also required to have one according to the German soldiers, but he didn't, the soldiers took Tsalig and left. Leon's brother is gone.

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After Leon sneaks his way into Płaszów, he makes it there.

Quote 8
"The moment I entered the gates of Płaszów, I was convinced I would never leave alive" (114)

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Leons searched for his father and brother, he took a risk.

Quote 9
"Weak as I was, I stole away, determined to find my father and brother. Finally, totally exhausted, when I thought I would have to abandon my search, I opened one more door. There they were" (116)

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Leon hears about Schindlers plan but does not think to much of it, but then he is on the list, and gets some happiness.

Quote 10
"When word passed through the camp that Schindler planned to add thirty Jews to his workforce, I didn't think anything about it. However, a few days later I learned that a list had been created, and my name was on it, along with my mother's" (128)

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#18 - Leons names gets crossed off, but he still makes into Schindlers sub-camp

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#18 - Leons names gets crossed off, but he still makes into Schindlers sub-camp

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Leons name does get crossed off Schindlers list, but Leon made his case to a German officer and made it into the group going to Schindlers sub-camp. He goes near his mother and slides his hand into his mothers hand.

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Theres a danger of the Soviets capturing the Nazis so Schindler wanted to flee. Before he fled, he gathered all his Jews together and told them "You are Free".

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# 20 - Leon and his family move to the United States of America

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# 20 - Leon and his family move to the United States of America

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Leons family immigration request has been approved. They take a train and a troopship, then they go to Los Angeles, California for a 5-day trip. Leon found the trip wonderful, and after the trip, the family took a train to where they were going to be living, a new life has begun.