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.