A Portrait Of Courage

 

                                              

"He who saves a life saves the world entire."

                                                                  -The Talmud, the book of Jewish law

 

Alot of people mistakenly think that when terrible events occur, there isn't anything one person can do to change the situation. However, during the Holocaust, one of the darkest times of human history that resulted in the destruction of six million Jews, there were heroic individuals who remembered their humanity, came forward to save others, and made a difference that the world wouldn't forget.

 

Oskar Schindler is one such hero. Schindler was a German businessman who sheltered over 1200 Jewish workers in his munitions factory and saved them from the Nazis who were determined to kill them. He constructed deals with the Nazis, used the fortune that he made in business (war profits), and took enormous risks to help his workers. Even though many of the laborers had no useful skills, Schindler fooled the Nazis into believing they were essential. The list of Jews in this factory was known as "Schindler's List." He was later honored by the government of Israel for his actions. 

 

This heartfelt and moving memoir, The Boy On The Wooden Box, honors Schindler's courage, compassion, and heroism, and was written by Leon Layson, one of the youngest people on "Schindler's List." Layson, whose given name was Leib Lejzon, describes his family's life in pre-World War II Poland, the commencement of the war, and the oppression and persecution that began after the Nazi invasion. He describes his eviction form his home, transport to the Podgorze ghetto in Krakow, and concentration camps, and the circumstances that led to his job in Schindler's factory which required him to stand on a wooden box to reach the controls on the machine he had to operate.

 

This is an unforgettable portrait of Oskar Schindler, an extraordinary, yet contradictory man - member of the Nazi party, war profiteer, rescuer, hero - who put his own life in danger to help others, and of Holocaust survivor Leon Layson, who was saved because Schindler valued human life at all costs.