The boy in The Striped Pajamas - Word Glossary

          Word 1: Sarcasm - A harsh way of speaking; similar to irony.

Example: "How interesting," said Gretel sarcastically because she had             recently had a birthday and turned thirteen and thought that sarcasm was the very height of sophistication.

          Word 2: Extraordinary - Very unusually remarkable

Example: "How extraordinary," he muttered, before turning away.

          Word 3: Naive - Showing an obvious lack of sophistication or understanding

Example: "Bruno is an extremely naive boy; he has no absolutely no idea!"

          Word 4: Compassionate - Showing kindness and empathy

Example: "You see that boy Shmuel? He shows compassion towards others."


          Word 5: Commandant - A high-ranking military official used in Germany.

Example:"When you meet Commandant Braun, you must treat him with utmost respect."

Picture 2 - Bruno's Dad

 

This is a picture of Bruno's dad from the movie. 

He is a Nazi commandant, and is responsible for the placement and treatment of Jews in the story. In the story, he is very harsh and strict, and talks to his son Bruno, as if they were conducting official business, not as if he were part of a loving family. He can often be heard arguing with family about his decision to stay in Poland, overseeing the oppression and murder of the Jews. When he has talks with his family, he is not very friendly. This is a phrase he said to his wife; "You will do what I say, because it is best for the family. That is the end of the discussion." Also, he has his own study, that no one, not even his wife, can enter unless given permission.

I chose this picture because it shows him sitting by the dinner table, dressed in full uniform and wearing a grim expression, when he is supposed to be happy and enjoying dinner like a normal person would be. The written text displays implicitly that he is not much of a family man, and is very strict. When you look at his face and expression, most people would immediately see what kind of person he was.

Picture 1 - Bruno and Shmuel

    In this picture from the movie, you see Shmuel and Bruno beside each other, seperated by a fence of barbed wire. Shmuel is dressed in a set of worn-out and dirty striped pajamas, while Bruno is dressed in an expensive looking, clean set of clothes. The ground where Shmuel is sitting has no grass, while the place Bruno is standing has a rich coat of green grass. In my opinion, this picture shows that these children don't really care what race you are, or what conditions you are living under. They care about the person you are, and will still be friends no matter the differences. It can be said that Bruno is naive, while Shmuel probably knows what is going on. The fact that Shmuel always seems very uncomfortable whenever Bruno unknowingly brings up something sensitive, such as Shmuel's bruises, is a definite sign that Shmuel knows about the Holocaust, unlike Bruno. This shows the trait acceptance, which a very important trait to posses. I think that Shmuel is being a very good friend in this situation, by not condemning Bruno, or secretly plotting to hurt him, even though his dad is the one behind all of this.

    I chose this picture because it shows that even kids can be extremely compassionate and accepting, contrary to beliefs that kids are shallow and naive.
I also thought it was a very contrasting picture, and was well taken. It amazes me that the rich son of a Nazi commandant, can be such good friends with a Jewish boy that is tortured and lives in complete poverty. I believe they also got Bruno to stand up, and Shmuel to sit down, to further increase the contrast in the picture.

Newspaper article - Auschwitz

February 30, 1945


The entire world rejoiced as the infamous German concentration camp, Auschwitz, was liberated yesterday afternoon by a battalion of American troops. At approximately 2:45 pm, allied soldiers reached the gates of the camp, where a three hour firefight ensued. Fortunately, the allied soldiers won, and stormed the camp, freeing Jews and Prisoners of War from the cells which they were kept in for years. After all 300,000 people were freed, a survey was done, evaluating the conditions they were kept in. The results were horrific in all ways imaginable. Prisoners were given little to no food, kept together in small, unsanitary spaces, and regularly made to work for 16 hours a day. Also, hundreds of thousands were simply killed off in gas chambers when they were thought to be "not useful". Many small children were killed as soon as they reached the camps. Diane Bernstein, a survivor, calls it "the hell they built on earth". The Jewish community will never forget the grave injustices that was dealt to them and their ancestors in these few years.


I wrote this article because it talks about the reality of Nazi concentration camps. In reality, concentration camps were not places where Jews were "escorted to", or well-kept friendly places where Jews could play music and act in plays. They were not treated as fellow humans, or fed three meals a day. What the German officials said about the treatment of Jews at the time were largely false. Many people, including German citizens, thought of it as a temporary detainment during the war. Wouldn't it seem strange if a country decided to lock up millions of people for seemingly no reason whatsoever? Still, not too many people were in the clear of what was going on.

This article talks about allied troops freeing the Jewish people from the infamous Nazi camp, Auschwitz. Imagine their surprise when they saw that countless people were killed, and the ones who lived were often close to death from malnutrition and disease. After all the concentration camps were raided and liberated, detailed investigations were conducted. The results showed that prisoners were frequently overworked, starved, beaten, raped, and executed when deemed "unfit for labor".
Many people were shocked or in disbelief. Many others wondered how a country so large and powerful could do something so terrible.   

Journal of SS Commandant Ralph Braun.

September 18, 1939.

 I awoke this morning to a bird chirping loudly outside my window. This act is simply unacceptable, and orders will be made to neutralize the creature. My sleep is extremely valuable and cannot be interrupted. At 10 am, I attended breakfast with my wife and the children, where they were discussing the latest assignment from school, which was to build a tower out of straws. It annoys me to no end that children spend all their time, building such useless nonsense, where their time and efforts could be used for much greater things.

In other news, the invasion of Poland is going very well and as planned. Great Britain and France have decided to intervene, but with our allies Italy, Japan and Russia, only the U.S can stop us. Hopefully, America will not intervene unless directly attacked, which we will be careful not to do. Also, Grand-fuhrer Adolf will be joining us for dinner tomorrow, to further discuss the placement of captured Jews. If all goes well, the great Motherland will be restored of its glory that was much deserved. Our humiliating defeat 25 years ago will not be repeated.

For dinner we had sausages, ham, and pan-seared halibut with asparagus. Our cook is obviously lacking variety, as he serves the same things repeatedly. I will be sure to relive him of his job in the near future.


Reflection:

   For the journal of Bruno's dad, Ralph. I slightly exaggerated what I thought a strict Nazi general might think.In many cases, people like Bruno's father are largely egotistic, so I added references to him thinking he was superior to most things, such as birds. I chose Ralph because I thought he would be a very interesting character, being a Nazi commander and whatnot.

 Another reason I chose to write a journal about Bruno's dad was that I wanted to write about what was going behind Bruno's back during the story. For example, Bruno had no idea what was going on in the concentration camp, or who Adolf Hitler was and why he came to dinner. This journal entry explains everything that was going on in the story that Bruno didn't understand.

The boy in The Striped Pajamas - Newspaper article

(From http://www.secondworldwar.org.uk/newspaper.html)

As this newspaper clipping from 1945 states, General Dwight D. Eisenhower obliged Germans who lived near WWII concentration camps to go see what was done there. I feel that this was a reasonable decision, due to the fact that many civilians and soldiers knew of the killing that was being done there, yet chose not to speak out about it. Making them take a closer look at what was being done under their eyes would have provided a nasty shock, as many Germans did not know of the extent of what was happening there. They did not know of the deplorable conditions they lived in. Most did not know of the starvation rations the Jews were given. All they thought was that Germany was doing itself a favor by removing undesirable people from its ranks, not forcing millions of innocent people to die in gas chambers.

I think this newspaper clipping relates well to the story, because of Bruno's naive nature. The fact that Bruno didn't know what the people were doing there, or the fact that Bruno always mistakenly downplays all the bad things, such as Shmuel's missing father, or Shmuel's black eye, reflects on many German people at the time. The would choose to live the the rule "Ignorance is Bliss", and not really mention or acknowledge the fact that people were dying needlessly.

                                           

                            

The boy in the striped pajamas - Journal Entry for Chracter Bruno

Monday, September 4, 1939.

Today at school, Mrs.Von Richthofen, my grade 3 teacher, yelled at me for being late to class again. I hate that teacher. She never listens to me when I try to explain to her that my dad is a very busy man. She's so old, boring, and wrinkly, and always tells us about how her dead husband was a national hero in the Great War. Borr-ring! During lunch recess, I played a really fun game of soccer with my best friend Timmy. We won 5-3! In the afternoon, we had a spelling bee! Unfortunately, I got the really hard word "Fuhrer", which I messed up. Manfred won the spelling bee, and won a big trophy, along with a box of chocolate, which he refused to share. What a mean person! I always gave him my candy.

When I got home, Raphael, our cook, made me a delicious dinner of sausages and bacon. After dinner, I saw my dad talking with a uniformed person with a lot of pretty badges. The were talking about something called a Pole-Land, which I thought was a place with different kinds of poles. Then they were discussing how Pole-Land would be a great asset to the motherland. I didn't really understand what this meant, as we already had enough poles in our garden outside. Anyways, after dinner, my mom gave me ten Deutschemarks to go spend at the corner store with Timmy. She hadn't given me that much money in months! She said I was finally a responsible man that knew how to conserve money. I had no idea what this meant, so I spent it all on candy. When I came back, she was mad. Sigh. Parents can be so confusing at times. Before bedtime, my dad read me a story about two kids who found their way home using bread crumbs. But I wonder, how did they have enough bread? Silly stories. Then I went to sleep, thinking about the day to come.


Reflection: 

    I chose Bruno because I thought it would be fun and interesting to do a journal entry from the perspective of a young and naive boy who doesn't have the slightest of what was going on. He thought nothing of his mother telling him to save money, thought nothing of the invasion of Poland, and thought nothing of the widow of the Red Baron. Bruno has a simple, childish outlook on life, and I enjoyed writing in his perspective. 


    Bruno is a very interesting, unique boy. He has absolutely no idea what is going on, even when so much evidence is present, that a 5-year old could glean what was going on, given the situation. In my opinion, a 9-year old boy with a perfectly normal intelligence level should not be so oblivious to matters concerning him and his family.