Review
The Boy In The Striped Pajamas was published in the UK early
in 2006, where it has received very positive reviews and much
publicity, becoming one of those relatively rare books that
crosses over from its intended market (teenagers) to be read widely by
adults as well. It was published in hardcover in the USA
in September 2006, and is just now out in paperback.
Boyne tells the story
of Bruno, a 9-year-old boy living in Berlin in 1943 (the book
jacket description pegs it as 1942, but from various references in the
book it seems more likely to be 1943) who finds his
comfortable life upturned when his father is commanded by the
"Fury" to take a new job at a place called "Out-With", where the
lonely Bruno discovers a secret friend exactly his age - a boy
called Shmuel who wears striped...
Beyond the Book
A Brief History of
Auschwitz
Auschwitz was the name the Germans
used for the Polish city of Oswiecim
when they occupied it in WWII. The
concentration camp was established
nearby in June 1940, taking the name of
the nearby town. The camp quickly
expanded into three main parts:
Auschwitz I, Auschwitz II-Birkenau, and
Auschwitz III-Monowitz - a group of
about 40 sub-camps. In 1942, when the
mass exterminations began, the camps
(the largest complex of extermination
camps in the Reich) became the site of
the greatest mass murder in the history
of humanity, with the majority...
