Leon Leyson

Leon Leyson is the author of this memoir. Leyson was born in a small village in Poland where his family had lived for many generations. When he was eight, Leyson and his family moved to Krakow because his father worked in a glass factory there and he had finally saved enough money to bring the entire family there.

The war began shortly after Leyson and his family moved to Krakow. At first, the war did not impact Leyson’s everyday life. However, changes began taking place that caught his attention. When the Germans invaded Poland, rules were passed that forced the family to wear armbands and have work papers to allow them to stay in the city. Eventually, they were moved to the ghetto where survival was a day-by-day struggle. Then they were moved to a work camp where the conditions were worse than the ghetto...