The Boy On The Wooden Box

Leon and his friend Yossel (one of the two sons of Mrs. Bircz) carry an elderly woman on a stretcher to the ghetto infirmary. In doing so, they stay out past the ghetto curfew, and Gestapo guards shoot at them. The shots miss the boys, and a terrified Leon spends the night hiding at a stranger’s apartment. 

Schindler protects his Jewish workers from deportation by keeping them overnight at the factory. To hide from the Nazi roundup, Leon and his mother (along with Yossel and his brother Samuel) hide in the rafters of a storage shed. 

As the population of the ghetto decreases due to the deportations, Leon and his mother are moved into another section of the ghetto, where they board in an attic with several other residents. 

In March 1943, the remaining residents of the ghetto are deported to the Płaszów concentration camp. With deep feelings of loyalty, Leon decides to stay with his mother instead of hiding with Yossel and Samuel, whose mother has been deported. He hopes to reunite with the rest of his family at the camp. However, as he enters the gates to Płaszów, he is aware of entering “the innermost circle of hell” (112).