The Boy on the Wooden Box: Prologue–Chapter 1

by Leon Leyson
In this memoir, Leyson details how he and his family survived the Holocaust with the help of Oskar Schindler.

Here are links to our lists for the book: Prologue–Chapter 1, Chapters 2–3, Chapters 4–6, Chapters 7–8, Chapter 9–Epilogue
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Full list of words from this list:

words only definitions & notes
  1. escapade
    a wild and exciting undertaking
    What made the escapades even more exciting was that my mother had forbidden my going to the river.
  2. fortuitous
    lucky; occurring by happy chance
    It was hot; the water was heavy, but the task turned out to be fortuitous for her — and for me. It was in these fields my mother first caught the eye of her future husband.
  3. inevitably
    in such a manner as could not be otherwise
    I watched as the women gathered the feathers and stuffed them into the pillowcases just so, gently shaking them so they spread evenly. Inevitably, some of the down would escape.
  4. innate
    inborn or existing naturally
    Thanks to his hard work, his innate ability, and his sheer determination, he was frequently promoted.
  5. vie
    compete for something
    We vied for our father's attention, but we knew our sister, Pesza, was really his favorite.
  6. altercation
    a noisy, angry argument or fight between people
    Whenever we siblings got into a minor altercation, I can remember it was never Pesza's fault, even though it might have been.
  7. animosity
    a feeling of ill will arousing active hostility
    Fortunately the animosity lasted only a few days out of the year, and generally in Narewka, Jews and gentiles existed peacefully alongside each other.
  8. gentile
    a Christian as contrasted with a Jew
    Fortunately the animosity lasted only a few days out of the year, and generally in Narewka, Jews and gentiles existed peacefully alongside each other.
  9. proximity
    the property of being close together
    I guess she thought the very proximity of a Jew brought bad luck.
  10. idyllic
    excellent and delightful in all respects
    All in all, Narewka in the 1930s was a pretty idyllic place to grow up.
  11. agrarian
    relating to rural matters
    We were agrarian, unsophisticated, industrious people, Jews and Christians alike, whose lives revolved around family, our religious calendars, and the seasons of sowing and reaping.
  12. pogrom
    organized persecution of an ethnic group, especially Jews
    My parents had lived through attacks, called pogroms, in the early 1900s.
  13. retrospect
    contemplation of things past
    In retrospect, my parents and many others made a terrible mistake in thinking the Germans who came to Narewka in the Second World War would be like the Germans who had come in the First World War.
  14. ominous
    threatening or foreshadowing evil or tragic developments
    The song concludes with ominous words as the rabbi warns: When you grow older, children,
    You will understand
    How many tears lie in these letters
    And how much lament.
  15. imminent
    close in time; about to occur
    It never would have occurred to me those words were forecasting my imminent and terrifying future.
Created on Mon Oct 14 20:54:07 EDT 2019 (updated Wed Jun 25 18:13:53 EDT 2025)

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