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Youngest Jew saved by Schindler mourned

January 14, 2013 13:15
Steven Spielberg with Holocaust survivors including Leon Leyson, second from right (Photo: AP)

ByJennifer Lipman, Jennifer Lipman

1 min read

The youngest Jew to be saved by Oskar Schindler has died at the age of 83.

In the 70 years since Leon Leyson was given a second chance by the heroic German businessman, he emigrated to America, served in the US army and carved out a career in teaching. Mr Leyson was married for 46 years and is survived by six grandchildren.

He survived the Holocaust only after the intervention of Schindler, who gave him work at his factory. The boy known to Schindler as "Little Leyson" had to stand on a box to do his work.

Born in Poland, he was ten when the Nazis occupied the country and his family was sent to the Krakow ghetto.