The Boy on the Wooden Box: Chapters 7–8

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. desecrate
    violate the sacred character of a place or language
    Płaszów was an alien world. It was built on two Jewish cemeteries that the Nazis had desecrated and destroyed. It was barren, dismal, chaotic.
  2. menial
    relating to unskilled work, especially domestic work
    The work was both menial and dangerous.
  3. emaciated
    very thin, especially from disease or hunger or cold
    As he spoke, I saw pain and helplessness in my father's eyes as he realized how weak and emaciated I had become.
  4. pandemonium
    a state of extreme confusion and disorder
    One afternoon I took advantage of the pandemonium to sneak into the women's section to find my mother.
  5. exuberant
    joyously unrestrained
    They were so exuberant, so full of life, while just a few yards away from them I was exhausted and depressed, struggling to survive another day.
  6. meticulous
    marked by precise accordance with details
    It was meticulous and demanding work, but I had a knack for it.
  7. expendable
    suitable to be used up
    Sure enough, I found myself on the wrong side once again, assigned to a group of children and older workers. In other words, assigned to the group deemed expendable.
  8. cajole
    influence or urge by gentle urging, caressing, or flattering
    In late 1943, Schindler cajoled and bribed Goeth and other SS leaders for permission to build a sub-camp on the property adjacent to Emalia.
  9. audacity
    fearless daring
    In an effort to strengthen my case, I said, "My mother's on the list."
    What gave me the audacity to speak to him as if he were a person capable of seeing reason, I'll never know.
  10. bureaucrat
    a nonelective government official
    Did he see one of his own children in me? Was he simply being a bureaucrat who didn't like the fact that a name had been crossed out without his official permission? There's no way of knowing.
  11. nondescript
    lacking distinct or individual characteristics
    I saw Schindler's factory ahead of us. As we drew closer, I tensed and squeezed my mother's hand hard. What I saw was not the nondescript factory building it had been when my father first worked there.
  12. placate
    cause to be more favorably inclined
    The outside of the factory was a façade to placate the Nazis.
  13. blatant
    without any attempt at concealment; completely obvious
    In Płaszów, I would have been shot or at least lashed for such a blatant infraction, for being "a lazy and irresponsible" Jew.
  14. infraction
    a violation of a law or rule
    In Płaszów, I would have been shot or at least lashed for such a blatant infraction, for being "a lazy and irresponsible" Jew.
  15. exhume
    dig up for reburial or for medical investigation
    During the next week, some workers, my brother David among them, had to exhume hundreds of bodies from the mass graves where they had been thrown and burn them.
Created on Tue Oct 15 19:38:13 EDT 2019 (updated Wed Jun 25 22:23:42 EDT 2025)

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