On the other side of the fence, as Bruno can see from his bedroom window, are thousands of people living in a sandy, fenced-in camp, all wearing “ striped pajamas.” Bruno cannot properly pronounce the name of their new home, but calls it “ Out-With” (Auschwitz).Īs Bruno settles into life at Out-With, he comes to dislike Lieutenant Kotler, a soldier who hangs around their house and whom Gretel has a crush on. Bruno comes to learn that Pavel lives on the other side of a fence that runs near their house. Pavel tells Bruno that he has been a doctor in a past life, and Bruno is confused as to why a doctor would be working as a waiter in his house.
One of them, Pavel, is an old, stooped man who cleans up Bruno’s cut knee one day when he falls from a tire swing. Their maid Maria and butler Lars staff the house, but there are also new waiters that Bruno has not met before.
Bruno is sad to be away from Berlin, and bored to have only his twelve-year-old sister Gretel, whom he does not get along with, for company. The new house on a hill is the only house in a very desolate area. The family packs up all of their belongings and soon head out on a train to reach their new home. Grandmother is furious that Father would accept his new job from the Fury, but Father counters that it is a great honor for himself and for the Fatherland. Before they go, Father gets into a fight with Bruno’s Grandmother, a former singing star, at their Christmas celebration. Bruno is unhappy to be leaving his best friends, grandparents, and the hustle and bustle of Berlin, but is presented with no other choice than to go with his family. He is a stern and imposing figure, but still expresses his care for his children. Father is a Commandant in the German army. “ The Fury,” as Bruno calls Adolf Hitler, had come to dinner at Bruno’s home the previous week, and has promoted Bruno’s Father. Bruno’s Mother explains that the family is moving away due to the demands of his father’s new job.
Bruno, a nine-year-old boy living in Berlin, Germany in 1943, comes home one day to find his family’s maid, Maria, packing all of his things away in boxes.
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