According to the LA Times, Leon Leyson
died this past Saturday at the age of 83. Mr. Leyson was the youngest
Jew saved from persecution during WWII by German industrialist Oskar
Schindler. At the time he was chosen, he was an emaciated 13 year old
who had to stand on a box to reach the machinery in the Krakow
factory where he and his family were sheltered by Schindler.
Mr. Leyson was reluctant to speak about
his experiences mainly because “he didn't think anybody was
interested...” but also because having been given a second chance
he just wanted to get on with life. He never let the Holocaust define
him. He did not want to give his children a legacy of fear but of
freedom.
After viewing the movie “Schindler's
List”, Mr. Leyson said it felt like an out-of-body experience.
“Because those little kids who were running away from the Nazi's,
and hiding in attic crawl spaces, that was me and my friends.” His
only criticism of the film was that he felt it “over-emphasized”
Schindler's imperfections. The film did not show enough of the the
businessman's “basic human decency”. By sheltering those that he
did, he put everything on the line...”even to treat us as
human beings was against the law”. Mr. Leyson did work 12 hour
shifts like an adult but because he was so weak, Schindler doubled
his rations and even took him off the line when it affected his
eyesight. He added Leyson's siblings and his mother to his list to
keep them together.
Mr. Leyson saw him again when Schindler
made a trip to L.A in 1974 (just before he died). Leyson joined a
group of survivors who wanted to meet the man that they regarded as a
savior at the airport. Even after all the decades, when Mr. Leyson
started to introduce himself, he found it wasn't necessary. “I know
who you are,” Schindler said to the middle aged man before him,
“you're Little Leyson”.
Most movies are meant purely for
entertainment but from time to time they can remind us of
people and events that should not be forgotten.
http://www.latimes.com/news/obituaries/la-me-leon-leyson-20130114,0,3835673.story
No comments:
Post a Comment