The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas is a 2006 Holocaust novel by Irish novelist John Boyne. Unlike the months of planning Boyne devoted to his other books, he said that he wrote the entire first draft of The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas in two and a half days, barely sleeping until he got to the end. He did, however, commit to nearly 20 years of research, reading and researching about the Holocaust as a teenager before the idea for the novel even came to him. As of March 2010, the novel had sold more than five million copies around the world. In both 2007 and 2008, it was the best selling book of the year in Spain, and it has also reached number one on the New York Times bestseller list, as well as in the UK and Australia.[not verified in body] The book was adapted in 2008 as a film of the same name.

Bruno is a 9-year-old boy growing up during World War II in Berlin. He lives with his parents, his 12-year-old sister Gretel and maids, one of whom is called Maria. After a visit by Adolf Hitler, Bruno's father is promoted to Commandant, and the family has to move to "Out-With" because of the orders of "The Fury" (Bruno's naïve interpretation of the word "Führer"). Bruno is initially upset about moving to Out-With (in actuality, Auschwitz) and leaving his friends, Daniel, Karl and Martin. From the house at Out-With, Bruno sees a camp in which the prisoners wear "striped pyjamas" (prison clothes). One day, Bruno decides to explore the strange wire fence. As he walks along the fence, he meets a Jewish boy named Shmuel, who he learns shares his birthday. Shmuel says that his father, grandfather, and brother are with him on this side of the fence, but he is separated from his mother. Bruno and Shmuel talk and become very good friends, although Bruno still does not understand very much about Shmuel and his side of the fence. Nearly every day, unless it's raining, Bruno goes to see Shmuel and sneaks him food. As he visits Shmuel more and more, and Shmuel gets more and more skinny, Bruno's naïveté is proved, as he never realizes he is living beside a concentration camp.

The next day Bruno concocts a plan with Shmuel to sneak into the camp to look for Shmuel's father. Shmuel brings a set of prison clothes (which look to Bruno like striped pyjamas), and Bruno leaves his own clothes outside the fence. As they search the camp, both children are rounded up along with a group of prisoners on a "march". They are led into a gas chamber, which Bruno assumes is simply shelter from the outside rainstorm. In the gas chamber, Bruno apologizes to Shmuel for not finding his father and tells Shmuel that he is his best friend for life. It's unknown if Shmuel answers him because as soon as the door is closed, the lights go out and all is chaos. However, Bruno is determined that even in chaos, he will never let go of Shmuel's hand.

Bruno is never seen again and days later, his clothes are discovered by a soldier. His mother spends months afterwards searching for him, even returning to their old home, before at least moving to Berlin with Gretel, who isolates herself in her room. Bruno's Father spends a year more at Out-With, becoming ruthless and coldhearted towards his subordinates. A year later, he returns to the place where Bruno's clothes were found and pieces together how his son disappeared, collapsing in grief. Months later, Allied Troops storm the camp and Bruno's Father, racked with guilt, allows himself to be taken prisoner.

The book ends with the chilling phrase; "Of course, all of this happened a long time ago and nothing like that could ever happen again. Not in this day and age." 1

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