Desperation

The author of this memoir begins his story with a perfectly normal scene out of any child’s carefree summer. This belies the desperation that will soon become a reality of this child’s life. As a Jew living in Poland during the Second World War, Leyson found himself the subject of an attempt to exterminate an entire race of people. The Germans invaded his country and forced the Jews to live in intolerable conditions before imprisoning them, first in ghettos and then in work camps, just so the Germans could take advantage of their lingering ability to work despite their weakening physical states.

Leyson describes in several sections of the memoir how difficult it was for him and his family to find food. They worked hard every day, yet they were not paid and were rarely given enough food to support an entire family. They would scrounge...