PLOT SUMMARY

The Boy in the Striped Pyjama’s is the story of a young German boy named Bruno. The story is set during World War Two in Berlin Germany and later at Auschwitz concentration camp in Poland. It is 1943 and Bruno is 9 years old. He moves to Auschwitz after his father is given a promotion by Adolf Hitler. Bruno’s father is an officer in the Nazi Army and is put in charge of the Auschwitz concentration camp.


While in Auschwitz Bruno is very lonely and unhappy, until he meets another young boy named Shmuel. Bruno and Shmuel meet at the fence which separates Bruno’s home from the concentration camp. They soon become close friends even though they can never touch. They sit at the fence and just talk with each other. Shmuel is a Jewish prisoner and is also 9 years old. He has the same birthday as Bruno, April 15th 1934.

After a year at Auschwitz Bruno is told his family is moving back to Berlin. In his last visit with Shmuel he crawls under the fence and into Auschwitz. His head has been shaved after catching lice and he borrows a uniform from Shmuel so he looks like a prisoner. A storm erupts and Shmuel and Bruno get caught up in a crowd of people. They are marched into a gas chamber and never heard of again. Bruno’s father eventually figures out what happened and is devastated. He is arrested in 1945 after Germany loses the war and allied soldiers liberate Auschwitz.