The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas Gets A Sequel

Asa Butterfield and Jack Scanlon in The Boy in the Striped Pajamas. Courtesy of Disney.

In what is terrible news for Holocaust education, John Boyne has penned a sequel to his 2006 book, The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas.

Much like the book, Holocaust scholars are also critical of the 2008 film adaptation (released in North America as The Boy in the Striped Pajamas) for the false equivalences that it creates between the Jewish victims and their perpetrators. I have not seen the film nor do I have any plans to do so. You will not be getting a film review from me. Not on Yom HaShoah and certainly not on Tisha B’Av. Not ever.

I recommend reading this piece about all of the problems in both the book and film. The film is not a true story. It is full of harmful stereotypes. If you think the whole Whoopi Goldberg situation is bad, this book is even worse.

When John Boyne posted the news today, he was appropriately slammed on Twitter in the replies and quote tweets. Of course, there were those who supported it and can’t wait. Oh well, I guess they prefer Holocaust books centering on the Nazis rather than Jews.

It is the best interest of everyone to just cancel the publication of All the Broken Places. We do not need another non-Jewish writer writing a book about the Holocaust and centering it on the Nazis. To any studio that is currently thinking of adapting the book into a film, let me stop you in advance. Do not do it. Please. I beg of you. When it comes to books about the Holocaust, please listen to Jewish authors. Read Holocaust books by Jewish writers because they center their books on Jews.

If you publish books like this one, people will call you out.

This is a book that distorts the Holocaust. Any Holocaust educator would not recommended the book to students. And yet, there are teachers like one in Illinois who teaches The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas in school. I feel sorry for her students because they are getting a terrible education when it comes to the Holocaust.

Case in point: The Auschwitz-Birkenau Memorial and Museum has previously tweeted that it should not be taught in schools.

It’s not too late for too late for Penguin Random House and Doubleday UK to cancel the upcoming publication.

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Danielle Solzman

Danielle Solzman is native of Louisville, KY, and holds a BA in Public Relations from Northern Kentucky University and a MA in Media Communications from Webster University. She roots for her beloved Kentucky Wildcats, St. Louis Cardinals, Indianapolis Colts, and Boston Celtics. Living less than a mile away from Wrigley Field in Chicago, she is an active reader (sports/entertainment/history/biographies/select fiction) and involved with the Chicago improv scene. She also sees many movies and reviews them. She has previously written for Redbird Rants, Wildcat Blue Nation, and Hidden Remote/Flicksided. From April 2016 through May 2017, her film reviews can be found on Creators.