What is the importance of the railyard in the novel, Jacob the Liar?

The railyard is where Jacob and his friends are forced to work for the Nazi occupiers. They are forced to move boxes of material between trains being shipped across the front. As it is one of the few areas they are allowed to gather together, it is where a large part of the action takes place. Much of the transmission of Jacob’s newest updates from the front takes place here as well as other interactions between Jacob and other ghetto residents.