A Gift of Memory

August 27, 2013

Today marks the release of
The Boy on the Wooden Box
, the memoir of our dear friend Leon Leyson. Leon was a guiding spirit of our program, always excited about new facets of our program in Holocaust history and education at Chapman University. It seems only appropriate that we initiate our blog today. I only wish that Leon could be here to see his memoir in print and to know that his story and those of his family members, especially his dear brothers Tsalig and Hershel, will be read by millions of people around the book. Prior to its publication, the book had already received starred reviews in
Kirkus
and
Publisher’s Weekly
. It was chosen as a “book of the month” by Amazon. I hope all of you will read it. I am proud to have been part of the process, along with Leon’s wife Lis, of bringing his amazing story to publication.

You’ll be receiving our schedule of events for 2013-14 shortly. We will be bringing outstanding scholars and inspiring survivors/witnesses to campus to meet with our students and share their ideas and experiences. This year marks the 20
^th
anniversary of the film
Schindler’s List
and David Crowe who wrote the groundbreaking biography of Oskar Schindler will be with us at the beginning of October. We also will commemorate the 75
^th
anniversary of
Kristallnacht
with an extraordinary program on the afternoon of Thursday, November 7, that will bring together four survivors of
Kristallnacht
in conversation with several members of our Chapman University History Department.

Several people will be sharing their ideas about books, film, and current events through this blog. We hope you will read us regularly.