The Boy in the Striped Pajamas

The Verdict

Perhaps no Holocaust novel is more widely read by children, or more heavily criticised by historians, than this one. John Boyne frames the camps as a fable, seen through Bruno, the nine-year-old son of a commandant, who befriends a Jewish boy through the wire and understands almost nothing of what surrounds him. For many readers it is a first, tearful encounter with the subject. For many educators it is a problem — its central premise strains credulity, and its focus on a German child's innocence risks distorting the very history it introduces. Powerful and troubling, in ways both intended and not.

Who Should Read It

Why We Rated It 3.8

Historical Context

The Boy in the Striped Pajamas (2006) is a fable-like novel in which the young son of a Nazi camp commandant befriends a Jewish boy through the camp fence. Enormously popular and widely taught, it was adapted into a 2008 film.

Criticisms & Debates

Historians and Holocaust educators have criticised the novel heavily: its premise — that a commandant's son would be ignorant of the camp beside his home, and could meet a prisoner at the fence — is regarded as historically implausible, and its focus on German innocence is seen by many as distorting rather than illuminating. It is best taught as a discussion piece with those problems made explicit.

Events Covered

Read It Alongside

Number the Stars Lois Lowry · 1989 · ★ 4.5

Historical Fiction

The Book Thief Markus Zusak · 2005 · ★ 4.5

Historical Fiction

The Diary of a Young Girl Anne Frank · 1947 · ★ 4.9

Memoir

Where to Buy

ISBN: 978-0385751537

Read This Against

The same events seen from a different vantage point. The fullest understanding often lives in the space between accounts that don't agree.

Into That Darkness Gitta Sereny · 1974 · Multi-Perspective

Academic

Bloodlands Timothy Snyder · 2010 · Multi-Perspective

Academic

KL: A History of the Nazi Concentration Camps Nikolaus Wachsmann · 2015 · Multi-Perspective

Academic

Other Books About the Same Events

The Diary of a Young Girl Anne Frank · 1947

Memoir

If This Is a Man Primo Levi · 1947

Memoir

Night Elie Wiesel · 1960

Memoir

Man's Search for Meaning Viktor Frankl · 1946

Memoir

The Pianist Władysław Szpilman · 1946

Memoir

Maus Art Spiegelman · 1991

Memoir

More by John Boyne

Frequently Asked Questions

Is The Boy in the Striped Pajamas historically accurate?

No — historians consider its central premise implausible and potentially misleading, which is why it is controversial as a teaching text.

Should it be used to learn about the Holocaust?

Only with care and alongside factual accounts and survivor testimony; on its own it can distort more than it teaches.