This is a book reminiscent of Korczak’s «King Matt the First» with its piercing and sharpness. 9-year-old Bruno, the son of the fascist commandant of Auschwitz, and his peer Shmuel, a prisoner of the death camp — what can these two have in common? Nothing but a fierce boyish friendship that arises between them in defiance of the entire course of world history.
Together against all odds
This is a book reminiscent of Korczak’s «King Matt the First» with its piercing and sharpness. 9-year-old Bruno, the son of the fascist commandant of Auschwitz, and his peer Shmuel, a prisoner of the death camp — what can these two have in common? Nothing but a fierce boyish friendship that arises between them in defiance of the entire course of world history. A simple story, in which there is not the slightest sentimentality or pathos, suddenly acquires a universal sound. Talking about Bruno and Shmuel, the writer speaks not only about the tragedy of the Holocaust, but also about the place of the child in the modern world as a whole — about his defenselessness in the face of adults, about his right to immunity and about the indomitable power that lies in children’s attachments .