Holocaust is as fragile as a thin sheet of glass, yet deep and endless as a black hole. It should be dealt with care in all writing. In this book, the author expresses and deals with Holocaust through an immature eye of a child to make Holocaust more comfortable topic more readers.
Viewed from a 9 year-old boy whose father is a German Nazi commandant, Bruno, this matter is very questionable and he is very curious about why he was driven out of his beautiful home in Berlin to the horrible out-with, where the house is comparably small and a fence, a terrible one indeed, exists. His sister, Gretel, more maturely deals with this issue, yet marks the fact that she does not know why they were driven out of Berlin, too. Their maid and waiter, respectively, Maria and Pavel, try to protect the children as well as possible from reaching the knowledge of what is happening in the world around them and why the fence exists. The children’s mother works with Maria and Pavel to protect the children as well as she can and deals with the issue carefully and sensitively. The children’s father is more of a strict and merciless character, stricter to people around him. But his hidden character of self-guilt is revealed at the end where he finally decides that out-with is not a place for children when he realizes that the children discovered too much information. Shmuel, another 9 year-old boy on the other side of fence and the victim of Holocaust as a Jewish from Poland, is more mature and seems to relatively know what is going on, while the fact is not transparently revealed in the author’s writing. And finally, Lieutenant Kotler is the one with very bitter character, as he acts harshly towards Bruno and yet, respectively but coldly in front of the commandant. The author’s writing also unveils Gretel and Lieutenant Kotler’s relationship.
The story continues on at out-with and reveals that Bruno meets Shmuel, and then tragedy breaks the fragile peace.
Bruno and Shmuel’s immatureness, counteracted.
As the result of them both not knowing what the fence is and what the striped pajamas are for, Bruno wears the striped pajamas and the striped armband with a Jewish star, which they don’t know what is for either. And then, Bruno and Shmuel walks around on the other side of the fence and freely explore and have an O.K. time, making good out of the fact that they are together. Then suddenly, they get marched into a room. A room. And then the story ends by noting that Bruno holds Shmuel’s hand tightly and never letting go.
By this point, tears were streaming down my face as my heart and soul came together, seeping in unbearable amounts of black rage and mortal sorrow. I was speechless. The tragedy rung my heart and I was shocked. It was just the fact that they were marched into a room, a dark one, but I was the only one, that knew what was going to happen next and what the room was. And that made me sad as I’ve never been in my whole life.
Holocaust is a shame, a mistake, and a mistake that mankind should have never made, and the greatest mistake of human history. The Jewish were prejudiced and discriminated for their beliefs and their race, and they did not have a choice of how, when, and where they were born. The Nazi treated them mercilessly, killing an unbearable, massive population of Jewish. Even as I write this, tears are streaming down my face as I honor all who have died in this unreasonable prejudice.
Yes, this book is very sad. It will make you cry, and I guarantee that with an oath unless you are a cold person like Lieutenant Kotler. But I recommend this book more than I’ve ever done in my whole life, and I beg you to honor the ones who have suffered from the greatest mistake of mankind.
5th grade boy, Texas
[Brenda's note: While this title is found in some elementary schools, there are those who believe it is best suited for middle school or above.]
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