The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas
Storyboard Description
During World War II, 8-year-old Bruno and his family leave Berlin to take up residence near the concentration camp where his father has just become commandant. Unhappy and lonely, he wanders out behind his house one day and finds Shmuel, a Jewish boy of his age. Though the barbed-wire fence of the camp separates them, the boys begin a forbidden friendship, oblivious to the real nature of their surroundings.
Storyboard Text
- Your father has been made 'Commandant', so you are leaving Berlin!
- Why are you packing my things?!
- This house is so small and lonely-looking!
- AUSCHWITZ, POLAND
- Stop talking about them! Pretend they don't exist.
- Who are those people?
- Bruno is an 8-year-old boy living in Berlin, Germany in the 1940s during World War II. He has an older sister named Gretel, a mum and a dad who works in the German army.
- Those people are not real people because Hitler says so. Heil Hitler!
- One day, Bruno discovers the maid Maria packing up his things. He finds out that his father has been given a promotion in the army, so the family must move away.
- But you're a potato peeler!
- I used to be a doctor, you know.
- Bruno and his family move to Poland, right next door to a place called "Out-With". Bruno and Gretel hate it here. Mum isn't happy either - she's very angry with Father for accepting the job.
- Why are all the people in Out-With wearing pyjamas?
- Bruno and Gretel notice that people are living behind the fence in "Out-With". Bruno learns that these people can't go outside the fence, and he doesn't know why they're stuck in "Out-With".
- Hello! My name is Bruno.
- Hello! My name is Schmuel.
- Bruno tells his father that he wants to go back to his old house, but his father says no. He asks his Father about the people living behind the fence, and his father says they aren't people.
- I used to have a family and a house, but my mum was taken away and I was brought here.
- Bruno gets Pavel, the Jewish potato-peeler, to help him make a tire swing. Pavel tells him he used to be a doctor, but Bruno doesn't believe him.
- .
- Heil Hitler!
- Bruno gets bored very quickly at his new house, so he goes exploring. He walks to the fence that surrounds "Out-With", and sees that everyone inside is wearing the same striped uniform.
- Bruno meets a boy sitting behind the fence of "Out-With". He learns that the boy has the same birthday as he does.
- I'm so sorry, sir! It was an accident!
- You'll regret it, you filthy Jew!
- While talking with Schmuel, Bruno learns that he was taken away and forced to live in "Out-With". He doesn't understand why Schmuel is locked inside the fence, and Schmuel says it is because of Hitler.
- That's horrible! Why would you be taken from your family and home?
- Bruno remembers meeting Hitler, the leader of Germany, before he moved away from Berlin, and realises that Hitler is his father's boss. That means that Bruno's father is keeping Schmuel locked up!
- Bruno decides not to tell his Father about making friends with Schmuel - if Father has locked Schmuel up, then surely his Father would be angry to find out that they're friends!
- Father's co-worker Kotler comes for dinner with the family. Pavel is serving them food, and he accidentally drops it on Kotler's lap. Kotler tells Pavel that he will pay for his mistake.
- I wear these clothes because the Nazi soldiers took all my things away.
- Why would they take all your things? You didn't do anything bad!
- Please have some chicken - you look hungry!
- I got the chicken from Bruno - he's my friend!
- .
- .
- I've never met this boy - I didn't give the chicken to him!
- .
- .
- Kotler takes Pavel away. Bruno never sees him again.
- One day, Bruno goes to see Schmuel at the fence and finds out that Schmuel has a black eye. He asks Schmuel why they wear pyjamas in "Out-With". Bruno is worried - Schmuel is looking very thin and sick!
- BERLIN, GERMANY
- Bruno's family is throwing a party, and he finds Schmuel in the kitchen to help polish the drinking glasses. Bruno gives some chicken to Schmuel because he looks hungry.
- Are we Jews, though?
- No! We're good, proper Germans! Jews are animals.
- AUSCHWITZ, POLAND
- Kotler finds out that Schmuel was eating the chicken for the party guests, and starts yelling at him. Schmuel tells Kotler that Bruno gave it to him because they're friends - but Bruno lies and pretends he doesn't know Schmuel.
- I look a lot like Schmuel now!
- After the party, Bruno goes to the fence to find Schmuel and apologise for lying. Schmuel tells him it's okay, and they shake hands.
- I'm sorry that I lied - I'm scared of Kotler.
- What about Schmuel? I can't leave my friend behind!
- I want to go back to Berlin!
- It's okay. I forgive you!
- When Bruno's grandmother dies, Bruno and his family go back to Berlin for the funeral.
- I can't find my dad anywhere!
- When Bruno goes back the the house in Poland, he asks Gretel why there's a fence next to their house. Gretel says that it's to keep the Jews locked up.
- When Bruno gets lice from Schmuel, Bruno's father shaves all his hair off. Bruno thinks he looks a lot like Schmuel without his hair.
- Mum decides she wants the family to move back to Berlin - Father agrees, and Gretel is excited. Bruno is upset because going back to Berlin means he will be leaving Schmuel behind.
- Bruno goes to visit Schmuel before he leaves, but he finds Schmuel upset because his dad has disappeared. Bruno and Schmuel plan to have Bruno dress in pyjamas and sneak into "Out-With" to look for him.
- It's okay... I know! I can dress up in pyjamas, sneak under the fence and help you look for him!
- The next day, before Bruno leaves for Berlin, he crawls under a hole in the fence to enter "Out-With". Schmuel gives him the pyjamas to change into, and Bruno puts them on.
- Okay - then we'll find your dad!
- Put these pyjamas on - you'll look exactly like everyone else in "Out-With"!
- Bruno and Schmuel walk around to find Schmuel's dad. Bruno notices that everyone in pyjamas looks sick and sad, and there are a lot of mean-looking soldiers around.
- I don't like it here!
- Me either.
- Get in the chamber!
- You're mine, too.
- You're my best friend.
- AUSCHWITZ
- I found Bruno's clothes inside Auschwitz!
- BERLIN
- Bruno?? Where are you??
- Bruno and Schmuel are caught by soldiers and taken to a chamber - lots of Jews have been told to stand inside. The soldiers tell Bruno and Schmuel to get inside too, and they are both scared.
- What's happening?
- The Boy Striped Pyjamas
- Bruno and Schmuel are forced to stand close to many Jews as the lights turn off. Schmuel takes Bruno's hand, and then the boys are never seen again.
- adapted from the novel by
- IN THE
- For days, all the soldiers around Auschwitz look for Bruno - but they can only find his clothes inside the camp. Bruno's mother takes Gretel back to Berlin, hoping he went to their old house.
- Oh no...
- Bruno's father stays and looks for Bruno. He finds the hole in the fence where Bruno got in, and realises what happened - Bruno was one of the hundreds of people killed in Auschwitz's gas chambers.
- JOHN BOYNE
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