WWII Movie
Kelsey and I watched The Boy in the Striped Pajamas for our WWII video.
The Boy in the Striped Pajamas is about an eight year old boy named Bruno and his family moving from their great home in Berlin to the countryside near a Concentration camp due to his father’s job as a Nazi officer. Bruno had always looked up to his father with a great amount of respect, he thought he was a great man and did wonderful things for people. Bruno had watched a video about what his father did for people and thought this was a great thing, not realizing it was all a lie. Bruno didn’t like the move and was always thinking about his friends back in Berlin. He was bored here and had no one to play with.
One day Bruno decided to betray his mother and wonder off into the woods where he is told not to go. He met a friend, one of the boys he saw out of his window. He had always wanted to be one of those boys as he thought they were having more fun and their lives were so much better. Bruno didn’t understand why he was not allowed to be around these people, he didn’t think it was fair. He talked with the boy for awhile, and got a feel for what he was like. His name was Schmuel and he wore blue striped pajamas and acted as if he never got enough to eat. Bruno never spent too much time with Schmuel as he didn’t want his mother to worry.
The two boys met up everyday to play ball and talk, one day Bruno thought it would be a good idea to sneak Schmuel food until one day one of Bruno’s father’s men caught Schmuel with the food. The man had asked Bruno if Schmuel had stole it and Bruno lied to save Schmuel from any kind of trouble he might get into. Bruno knew he was wrong by lying but Schmuel was his friend, his only friend, he didn’t want to let him down.
One day Bruno went to meet his friend Schmuel and he was very upset Bruno didn’t know what had happened but noticed he was very hurt. Schmuel apologized to Bruno and explained what had happened and that his father was missing. Bruno wanted to help Schmuel find his father and asked him to bring striped pajamas next time they were to meet.
When they meet again Schmuel had the pajamas and Bruno dug a whole under the barbed wire fence leaving his clothes behind. They searched the concentration camp for his father but had no luck. Then they heard some sirens going off and got pushed into a small building that was very crowded. They were asked to take their clothes off so they figured they were going to be bathed. Really this was a gas building and they were soon to be gassed to death.
Bruno’s mother noticed how long he had been gone and soon contacted his father. They went searching for him and later found his clothes and the whole he dug to get into the camp. Bruno’s father heard the sirens going off and they hurried to try and save their boy Bruno but it was only too late.
This is a great movie. I didn’t really think I would enjoy a WWII movie until I watched The Boy in the Striped Pajamas. It was definitely a tear jerker, the ending made me cry! It really brought to mind what it would feel like to be the son of a Nazi Officer and not understand what was really going on, better yet, not approve of this treatment. It also makes you think of how the father had to feel when he knew his boy went through the same thing he was doing to the sons and fathers of other people.
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