The Boy on the Wooden Box-Emotions-Leon Leyson

 

The Boy on the Wooden Box
Leon Leyson
Martin Nicholson
Pages read 206/206

         The most surprising scene from The Boy on the Wooden Box, by Leon Leyson is the fact that he was spared, even though he was useless. When Leon was working for Schindler, he had to stand on top of a wooden box to operate the machine which he was working. Not only was he to small to work it, but he wasn't as productive as the others. In one passage while he created thirteen bomb shells, a skilled worker would have created over twenty. This was slightly confusing, Oscar Schindler had to chose which Jews he was going to save. Why did he chose Leon? Later on, you discover that Oscar and Leon's father seamed to get along well, so, maybe his father had requested that he save his youngest son, like he did with his daughter Pesza.
         The most discomforting part of the non-fiction was when Leon's older brother, David, was ordered to dig the decomposing bodies out of graves and carry them to the fire. This was not the most inhuman act in this book, but it was the one described in most detail. At first, I became angry reading this, but then when you realize there is nothing you could do about it, and lots of people, not just the Nazi's have forced people to do this, you become sad. You think about all the possible ways these people had died, and about the people carrying them to the fire. You think about how lucky you are momentarily if you have the opportunity to read this book. The passage makes you put the book down and think, "I hope this never happens again." Then you realize that it is happening and you change your approach, "This world is awful."