Is The Holocaust Over The Children Of The World - 1078 Words

Is the Holocaust over for the children of the world? The Holocaust was a dark time in human history during the reign of Hitler. Millions of Jews were killed by the Nazis. However, some people were still lucky enough to survive. One of these survivors, Leon Leyson, experienced the horrors of pure evil as a child. He lived to share his story, and today in America there are many programs and organizations dedicated to protecting children, but in other parts of the world children continue to experience the horror of war. World War II began a year after Leon and his family moved to Krakow. On September 1, 1939, the German army launched the first Blitzkrieg across the Polish border. The Luftwaffe sent bombers and fighters to attack airfields,†¦show more content†¦By the summer of 1943, the German army was retreating to Poland. The city of Lublin fell, and Warsaw fell afterwards. Unfortunately, the Poles discovered that their â€Å"liberation† only meant that the Nazis were replaced by the Soviets. When Leon was preparing to travel to Krakow, he was unaware of the horrible events that were coming. His father, a craftsman, needed to move to the city to continue his work. There were whispers of danger, but what could happen to them in the big city of Krakow? A year later, the Nazis invaded Poland. The Jews of Krakow were forced to live in a ghetto. Leon spent most of his time hunting for food. His father, Morris, was one of the few people allowed to leave the ghetto to work in a factory owned by Oskar Schindler, a German businessman who ended up saving hundreds of Jews. Morris’s employment outside of the ghetto allowed him to sneak scraps of food for his family. He also arranged for his wife and children to get a job at Schindler’s factory. In the factory, Leon worked twelve hour shifts. The boy had to stand on a wooden box just to reach the controls of the machine he was working at. Sometimes, Schindler would leave him extra food rations f or his hard work. Towards the end of the war, Schindler continued to support the Leyson family. Working for Oskar Schindler ended up saving Leon and his family’s lives. After the war, Leon was determined to put this mortifying experience behind him. He pursued a new