The Boy on the Wooden Box
“Tragic remembrances of war’s sufferings often go untold. However, if we are to ‘study war no more’ we need to hear them. After long silence Leon Leyson has written his World War II memoir. I am an African American veteran of World War II. I survived the invasion of Normandy. Leon Leyson’s story returned me to a time when the life of each step could be one’s last. The Boy on the Wooden Box is a heartbreaking story that ends, mercifully, with a heart restored.”
Ashley Bryan, multiple Coretta Scott King Award–winning author and former GI
Even in the darkest of times—especially in the darkest of times—there is room for strength and bravery. This remarkable memoir from Leon Leyson, one of the youngest children on Oskar Schindler's list to survive the Holocaust, is evidence of that.
Leon Leyson (born Leib Lezjon) was only ten years old when the Nazis invaded Poland and his family was forced to relocate to the Krak├│w 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 Krak├│w. Ultimately it was the generosity and cunning of one man—Oskar Schindler—that saved Leon Leyson's life and the lives of his mother, his father, and two of his four siblings. Schindler added their names to his list of workers in his factory—a list that became renowned throughout the world: 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.
Praise