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A review by bkowalczik
The Boy on the Wooden Box by Leon Leyson
4.0
Leon Leyson was a Polish boy fortunate enough to have a father who, after breaking into a safe for Oscar Schindler, worked at his factory without pay. Yet working there saved his family's life. Schindler, Leyson writes, has been called many things, but to Leyson he was a hero because he saved the lives of five members of the Leyson family.
Special note, the author passed away in 2013 and his wife and children write a tribute to him at the end of this short book. He sounds like he was an enthusiastic man who did not let his "unenviable events of his young life" define him. "He defined the events."
I enjoyed how Leyson described his family and his early childhood in Poland. Here was an interesting tidbit: His hometown of Narewka had been occupied by Germans during World War I. For the most part the Germans treated the citizens with respect. They were expecting the same type of treatment by the Germans in World War II. They quickly learned the horrible truth.
Here is a short, beautiful description of a Sabbath tradition: "Because the candles were nearly impossible to find even on the black market, she (the mother) blew them out immediately after the prayers. But it was enough. During those brief minutes, with the glow of the candles, I felt a connection not only to my fmaily beside me but also to my family in Narewka, to my favorite grandfather, and to happier days. The ritual affirmed who we were despite the humiliating restrictions outside our door. . . p. 75
He describes the scene where his family is forced to move to another apartment in the Warsaw ghetto. She pushed furniture off the balcony to its ruin below. "It felt so good to do something against the Germans, even if the only thing we could do was destroy our own possessions."
Special note, the author passed away in 2013 and his wife and children write a tribute to him at the end of this short book. He sounds like he was an enthusiastic man who did not let his "unenviable events of his young life" define him. "He defined the events."
I enjoyed how Leyson described his family and his early childhood in Poland. Here was an interesting tidbit: His hometown of Narewka had been occupied by Germans during World War I. For the most part the Germans treated the citizens with respect. They were expecting the same type of treatment by the Germans in World War II. They quickly learned the horrible truth.
Here is a short, beautiful description of a Sabbath tradition: "Because the candles were nearly impossible to find even on the black market, she (the mother) blew them out immediately after the prayers. But it was enough. During those brief minutes, with the glow of the candles, I felt a connection not only to my fmaily beside me but also to my family in Narewka, to my favorite grandfather, and to happier days. The ritual affirmed who we were despite the humiliating restrictions outside our door. . . p. 75
He describes the scene where his family is forced to move to another apartment in the Warsaw ghetto. She pushed furniture off the balcony to its ruin below. "It felt so good to do something against the Germans, even if the only thing we could do was destroy our own possessions."