The Boy in the Striped Pajamas - Historical Accuracy

Eight year old Bruno lives a wealthy lifestyle in Berlin along with his mother, older sister, and his father who is an SS officer. The family has to relocate to the countryside when his father is promoted and is assigned to take command of a prison camp. From his bedroom window, Bruno sees a barbed wire fence with people wearing what he calls "striped pajamas". Although Bruno thinks it is a farm, it is actually a concentration camp with Jewish people in their camp clothing. Bruno is forbidden to go there, because according to his father, "they're not really people". Eventually he ventures out beyond the backyard, and arrives at a barbed wire fence. Here he finds a young boy named Shmuel who is the same age as him. Although they are separated by an electrified fence the two boys develop a friendship. As the boys grow closer, Bruno learns they are separated by more than a fence but by their differing status’ in society. As Bruno spends more time with Shmuel he becomes awakened to the horrors unfolding all around them. When Bruno's father announces that the young boy and his mother will be going to live with their aunt, Bruno grabs a shovel and makes one last trip to the camp, setting into play a tragic sequence of events

There are many themes in the movie “The Boy in the Striped Pajamas” but one of the main themes I noticed was “lines may divide us, but hope unites us”. Bruno and Shmuel were physically separated by a fence, but they were also separated by lines that were much tougher to break through. These are the lines drawn by the Nazis who separated Jewish people from the rest of society and took away their human rights. Shmuel and Bruno’s innocence and hope allowed them to step over these lines and unite as they developed a strong friendship despite the separation created between them.

This film is historically accurate to a certain degree, but there are a few evident inaccuracies. For example the characters in the movie speak English and have British accents, which is incorrect as the movie is set in Germany. Also, it would have been impossible for Shmuel and Bruno to have developed a relationship because children sent to camps were immediately killed as they were not old enough to work. At the end of the movie, Bruno easily sneaks into the camp to help Shmuel find his father. In real life, it would have been next to impossible to sneak into the heavily guarded camp.

By watching this film one can not expect to learn completely accurate information on the Holocaust or Germany during WW2. Although this film has a measure of historical accuracy, the story is meant to be a fable rather than a historically accurate piece. The main reason I liked this film was because it gave a unique perspective on the Holocaust. It was unique because it was through the eyes of a young boy who had a innocent and naive view on the events of the Holocaust. I would not suggest this movie as a tool to teach about the Holocaust but I would recommend it as a good movie to watch for enjoyment because it is very entertaining, suspenseful, dramatic, and a bit of a tear jerker.