The Boy On The Wooden Box

Leon arrives at the Płaszów concentration camp, which appears to him as “hell on earth” (113). He is assigned to do menial and dangerous work with a group of adult men—hauling lumber, rocks, and dirt, and later shoveling snow in freezing temperatures. He surreptitiously visits his brother David and his father, who promises him that he will secure him a job in Schindler’s factory. Later, Leon briefly visits his mother. On one occasion, the camp’s commandant, the sadistic Amon Goeth, brutally flogs Leon and other male inmates during a work assignment.

Months later, Leon is assigned to work in the brush factory, which has been relocated from the Kraków ghetto to Płaszów. In 1944, Schindler rebuilds his Emalia factory on the grounds of the camp, and Moshe and David move there to work. Shortly afterward, Leon and Chanah are also assigned to the factory, but Leon learns that his name has been crossed off the list. While the recruits are leaving for the factory, Leon boldly approaches a Nazi guard and asks to be allowed to go to the factory along with his mother. The guard waves him on. As Leon arrives at Emalia, he wonders if his time in hell might be coming to an end.