Introduction
You face a world where history can suddenly turn ordinary lives into unthinkable nightmares. When the structures of civilization collapse, you must wonder how ordinary people find the strength to endure systemic cruelty and unimaginable hardship.
An ordinary Jewish boy survived the Holocaust and the horrors of Auschwitz and Płaszów thanks to his family's resilience and the extraordinary protection of Oskar Schindler.
Leon Leyson chronicles his journey from a peaceful village to the dark depths of Nazi concentration camps and finally to freedom. The book follows four distinct phases of survival and recovery.
- How did a close-knit family navigate the rising tide of wartime persecution?
- What daily horrors defined life inside the crowded Kraków ghetto and brutal labor camps?
- How did one German industrialist transform his enamelware factory into a sanctuary for hundreds doomed to die?
- How do you rebuild a shattered life in a new country after witnessing the worst of humanity?
1. Early Life in Narewka and Kraków
Leon Leyson spent his formative years in a peaceful Polish village before his family migrated to Kraków just before the outbreak of war.
Rural life in Narewka
Leon spent his early childhood in Narewka, a rural and agrarian Polish village where Jews and Christians largely coexisted peacefully. Narewka was a traditional village where life revolved around family, religious calendars, and agricultural seasons. Jews spoke Yiddish at home, Polish in public, and Hebrew in religious school, while maintaining strong community and family bonds.
Leon's ancestors lived in Narewka for two hundred years. About a thousand Jews lived in Narewka among the Christian residents. Electricity finally reached the village of Narewka in 1935. Leon was six years old when electricity was introduced to his home.
Leon's older brother Tsalig built a working radio out of crystals and wire remnants to pick up broadcasts from distant cities like Warsaw and Kraków.
Moving to Kraków
Leon's father moved to Kraków to pursue better economic opportunities in factory work, eventually sending for his family after years of saving. Starting as an apprentice machinist in a glass bottle factory, Leon's father demonstrated skill and determination that led to promotions and advanced training. After saving money over several years, he established a home in Kraków and brought his family there in 1938.
The distance from Narewka to Kraków measured three hundred fifty miles. Leon's father spent five years working and saving before sending for his family in the spring of 1938.
Leon's father brought home child-size briefcases from the city, including a tiny one packed inside for Leon, making him feel special as the youngest child.
Upon moving to Kraków in 1938, the family integrated into a vibrant, cosmopolitan city of 60,000 Jews where modern conveniences like indoor plumbing felt miraculous. Kraków offered grand parks, historic architecture, and cultural institutions. Leon and his brother explored the city, while their father continued working as an expert machinist and toolmaker in the industrial neighborhood near Lipowa Street.
Before the war, 60,000 Jews lived in Kraków, making up a quarter of the population. Over a hundred synagogues were scattered throughout Kraków.
Leon was so fascinated by the indoor plumbing in their new apartment building that he considered the toilet and electricity superior to anything else he had ever seen.
2. German Invasion and the Ghetto
Peaceful life ended abruptly on September 1, 1939. Air-raid sirens awakened Leon's family as German tanks crossed the border and the Luftwaffe attacked Polish towns.
Adult males like Leon's father and older brother Hershel fled east based on Great War experiences. Younger family members stayed behind, only to watch German forces occupy Kraków on September 6.
Leon sneaked out to the Powstancow Bridge on September 6, 1939, hoping to see French or English rescuers, but instead discovered German soldiers taking control of the city.
Rising threats and persecution
The Nazi occupation systematically stripped Jewish populations of their rights through incremental restrictions, forced property confiscation, and public humiliation.
Restrictions escalated rapidly:
- bans on park benches and public transportation;
- curfews and mandatory identification;
- the loss of employment and schooling.
Antisemitic propaganda depicted Jews as grotesque and filthy to justify cruel treatment by soldiers and civilian collaborators alike. September 15, 1939 marked Leon's tenth birthday, which passed unnoticed amid the chaos.
Orthodox men were targeted on the street to have their beards and side curls cut off for sport. Leon's family apartment was repeatedly targeted and ransacked after tip-offs from hostile neighbors by the Gestapo and the Generalgouvernement authorities.
Life in the Kraków Ghetto
The creation of enclosed urban ghettos crammed thousands of displaced people into grossly inadequate spaces, precipitating rampant disease and starvation.
The Nazis erected twelve-foot-high walls topped with rounded stones resembling headstones around a designated section of Podgórze. Thousands of Jews were forcibly relocated into quarters lacking basic sanitation, plumbing, and adequate food supplies.
An area meant to house a maximum of 5,000 people was crammed with 15,000 individuals, forcing multiple families to share single-room apartments divided by hanging blankets.
The Nazi occupation systematically stripped Jews of their rights, forcing them into enclosed urban ghettos marked by starvation and brutal roundups.
Sudden deportations and violent roundups systematically tore families apart, sending victims to extermination camps under the guise of relocation.
What began as voluntary resettlement requests quickly escalated into violent, unannounced street roundups and apartment sweeps by armed guards and dogs. Those lacking specialized work permits were forced onto trains heading toward camps where mass gassing occurred during an Aktion led by the SS.
1,500 Jews initially volunteered for early transports, believing conditions outside would be better.
During a June 1942 roundup, Leon's older brother Tsalig was seized because he lacked a proper permit. He refused rescue to stay with his girlfriend Miriam, and was sent to the Belżec camp.
3. Survival under Schindler and Terror
Oskar Schindler transformed his factory into a sanctuary, shielding his workers from the brutal atrocities of Płaszów and the death camps.
Płaszów camp conditions
Płaszów was built on desecrated Jewish cemeteries and functioned as a chaotic, brutal extermination camp where arbitrary violence governed daily life. Prisoners faced backbreaking menial labor, severe overcrowding, constant roll calls, and starvation rations. SS Hauptsturmführer Amon Goeth and his guards routinely murdered inmates without reason, creating an environment where survival felt statistically impossible.
Prisoners endured standard arbitrary punishments administered under strict orders:
- 25 lashes - The standard arbitrary punishment administered with leather whips by guards under Goeth's orders.
Leon narrowly avoided execution when he left the camp infirmary just minutes before Amon Goeth entered and shot every single patient.
Schindler's factory protection
Oskar Schindler transformed his Emalia factory into a relatively safe haven by maintaining separate, protected barracks and treating Jewish workers with human dignity. Schindler negotiated sub-camps and bribed Nazi officials to keep his workers close and productive. He learned workers' names, provided slightly better food rations, and actively subverted Nazi racist ideology by treating inmates as individual human beings.
Schindler repeatedly stopped by Leon's workstation to chat, gave him extra rations, and promoted him along with his father and brother to the toolmaking area as a family of machinists.
Leon and other Schindler Jews endured exhausting schedules:
- 12 hours - The length of the night shifts worked by Leon and other Schindler Jews.
- 12 pieces - The modest number of detonator casings Leon produced during a night shift.
Oskar Schindler achieved the seemingly impossible by bribing Nazi commanders to rescue the women of his workforce who had been diverted to Auschwitz. When female workers were mistakenly sent to Auschwitz, Schindler traveled there, argued that his workers were irreplaceable experts, and successfully secured their transfer to his new munitions factory in Brünnlitz just before they faced the gas chambers.
Leon's mother and sister Pesza survived Auschwitz and reached Brünnlitz because Schindler intervened immediately after their arrival. The workers spent 8 months at the Brünnlitz munitions factory producing little usable ammunition while waiting for the war to end.
Oskar Schindler ultimately secured the freedom of nearly twelve hundred Jewish workers by convincing guards to flee and providing barter goods before the arrival of the Soviet army. As the German army collapsed, Schindler urged guards to leave peacefully, distributed bolts of cloth and vodka for survival barter, and departed for American lines.
The historical rescue operation involved distinct final phases:
- 1,200 - The approximate number of Jews saved by Oskar Schindler.
- May 8, 1945 - The date a lone Soviet soldier arrived at the gates to announce liberation.
Before leaving, the workers presented Schindler with a gold ring made from a prisoner's tooth, inscribed with the Talmudic phrase: "He who saves a life saves the world entire."
4. Liberation, Emigration, and Legacy
After surviving the Holocaust, Leon rebuilt his life in America through education, military service, and decades of teaching.
Journey to America
Liberation from Brünnlitz brought immediate disorientation and freedom. Returning to Poland revealed that antisemitism and danger persisted for surviving Jews.
A mob gathered at a synagogue and threw rocks at the student dormitory where the Leyson family and other returning refugees were staying. Before the war, the Jewish population of Kraków stood at 60,000. In Narewka, the Einsatzgruppen took and killed 500 Jewish men in August 1941.
Displaced persons camps in Germany provided vital relief, allowing survivors to recover physically, resume their education, and prepare for future immigration.
After crossing the border through Czechoslovakia, the Leyson family stayed at a UN-run displaced persons camp in Wetzlar, Germany. Here, Leon had reliable medical care, three meals a day, and received tutoring in mathematics and drafting from a former German engineer named Dr. Neu.
Leon spent three years in the displaced persons camp. During this time, he befriended camp teenagers, learned fluent Hungarian to talk with a girl, and wore a brown fedora hat as a trademark emulating his father's prewar style.
Moving to the United States offered refugees a profound sense of safety and a fresh start. The transition required learning a new language and navigating cultural adjustments.
In May 1949, the family arrived in Boston on a former troopship and took a train across the country to Los Angeles, aided by relatives. Leon encountered unexpected acts of kindness, such as a stranger on the train teaching him American coin denominations.
The immigration journey involved specific transit periods:
- 9 days spent crossing the Atlantic Ocean on a troopship.
- 5 days spent on the train trip to Los Angeles.
During the train journey, a woman sitting nearby noticed Leon studying his change and taught him the names and values of nickels, dimes, and pennies.
Education and public speaking
With the support of the GI Bill and educational counseling, Leon overcame a severely disrupted childhood education. He earned advanced degrees and built a long teaching career.
After completing trade school and serving in the army, Leon consulted a college counselor who suggested he become an industrial arts teacher. He earned his bachelor's and master's degrees and taught high school in California for decades.
Leon spent thirty-nine years teaching at Huntington Park High School, eventually receiving an honorary doctorate of humane letters from Chapman University.
The release of Steven Spielberg's film Schindler's List inspired Leon Leyson to break decades of silence. He began sharing his Holocaust survivor story with the public.
Prompted by immense public interest following the 1993 film, reporter Dennis McLellan interviewed Leon for the Los Angeles Times. This coverage led to widespread invitations to speak at schools, universities, and civic organizations.
After a front-page article ran in the Los Angeles Times in January 1994, Leon was deeply moved by the outpouring of community interest and began speaking widely.
Conclusion
Leon Leyson's survival demonstrates that human decency can endure amid unimaginable cruelty, provided that courageous individuals choose action over indifference. You learn that resilience requires both inner fortitude and the external support of allies who risk everything for justice. The narrative ties together the ordinary life of a child, the catastrophic breakdown of society, and the enduring power of moral responsibility.
You can apply these lessons to your own life by honoring the past and defending human dignity.
- Remember the historical reality of hatred and persecution to prevent similar atrocities from happening again.
- Recognize your own capacity to make ethical choices when you witness injustice in your community.
- Value education as a vital tool for building empathy, understanding, and personal freedom.
- Cherish the resilience of the human spirit when you face profound personal adversity.
10 Key Ideas
- Leon Leyson spent his formative years in a peaceful Polish village before his family migrated to Kraków just before the outbreak of war.
- The Nazi occupation systematically stripped Jews of their rights, forcing them into enclosed urban ghettos marked by starvation and brutal roundups.
- Sudden deportations and violent roundups systematically tore families apart, sending victims to extermination camps under the guise of relocation.
- Płaszów was built on desecrated Jewish cemeteries and functioned as a chaotic, brutal extermination camp where arbitrary violence governed daily life.
- Oskar Schindler transformed his Emalia factory into a relatively safe haven by maintaining separate, protected barracks and treating Jewish workers with human dignity.
- Oskar Schindler achieved the seemingly impossible by bribing Nazi commanders to rescue the women of his workforce who had been diverted to Auschwitz.
- Oskar Schindler ultimately secured the freedom of nearly twelve hundred Jewish workers by convincing guards to flee and providing barter goods before the arrival of the Soviet army.
- Returning to Poland revealed that antisemitism and danger persisted for surviving Jews, while displaced persons camps in Germany provided vital relief.
- Moving to the United States offered refugees a profound sense of safety and a fresh start, though the transition required learning a new language and navigating cultural adjustments.
- The release of Steven Spielberg's film Schindler's List inspired Leon Leyson to break decades of silence and begin sharing his Holocaust survivor story with the public.