History Teaches Compassion

Throughout my time spent in school, teachers have touched on the horrors of the Holocaust, but I’ve never been exposed up close. Because of The Boy in Striped Pajamas, I experienced intense visuals and powerful emotions that I would have never otherwise imagined.

The 2008 film is based on the novel by John Boyne. Eight-year old Bruno has to move when his father is promoted to commander of a Nazi death camp. Next door, Bruno sees what he thinks is a farm where strange people work all day, dressed in striped pajamas. When he explores the property, he meets a Jewish boy named Shmuel. They become friends despite the separation between them.

Bruno, in his childhood ignorance, does not truly realize the devastation of these differences until he sees a Jewish man in their home severely beaten. He learns that this man, now an ill-treated servant, was once a well-respected doctor. But when he watches a propaganda film about the concentration camps, his beliefs become distorted. “We’re not supposed to be friends, you and me. We’re meant to be enemies. Did you know that?” he said to Shmuel. Such innocent things can only be said by children. Seeing history played out from the perspective of a Nazi’s young son makes it seem all the more tragic and unbelievable. Through his eyes, we learn about friendship, compassion and the necessity of tolerance.

The Boy in Striped Pajamas gives a heart-wrenching, powerful look into a historical tragedy that many people today don’t fully understand. As Bruno’s grandfather told him, “The work your father is doing here—history in the making!” Our culture has to understand history in depth so that such a mistake never occurs again.