The Boy on the Wooden Box: How the Impossible Became Possible…on Schindler’s List

Title: The Boy on the Wooden Box: How the Impossible Became Possible…on Schindler’s List

Author: Leon Leyson with Marilyn J. Harran & Elisabeth B. Leyson

Pages: 231

Grade Level: 7&8th

Lexile Level: 1000L

           An honest eyewitness account of the Holocaust, written for a young adult audience. This is the account of Leon Leyson, the youngest boy who was able to make it onto Schindler’s list. The Nazis forced Leon and his family to live in the ghettos of Krakow, the capital of Poland. The only way to survive the ghettos was to have a work permit. A work permit meant that you worked in a German manufacturing plant. These factories manufactured most of the war munitions and other war necessities..

           Oskar Schindler owned the manufacturing plant where the Leyson family worked. Schindler was a member of the Nazi party. He initially entered the production business due to greed. He even hired Jews because they were cheaper than the other Polish workers. One day he saw the Nazi’s “liquidating” a part of the Krakow ghetto. He watched men, women and children being lead away. This made him realize the absolute horrors his Jewish workers were experiencing. He vowed to protect his workers. This book tells that story from the perspective of his youngest worker.

           Read this book! Read this book! I’m not going to diminish the story by calling it moving. It’s beyond moving. This story showcases raw, unfiltered courage and true sacrifice. People sacrificing their lives for others. People sacrificing all their wealth. People sacrificing all comforts. It takes courage to sacrifice. Read this book! It will inspire you to find that courage within you and make sacrifices that God has called you to make.

           It is a Holocaust book, so it is violent. It’s not overly or unnecessarily violent. Any honest book written about the Holocaust will be violent. It’s written for young adults. I would say it is young adult, 7&8th, grade level. Just be content aware when assigning, recommending or reading it aloud.