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The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas Holocaust inaccuracies lead to new lessons on Shoah for schools

The controversial novel by Irish author John Boyne was used by hundreds of teachers in lessons on genocide

January 25, 2023 15:44
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The “dangerous inaccuracies and fallacies” about the Holocaust perpetuated by bestselling novel The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas have led to the launch of a new programme to improve how the issue is taught to children in schools.

The Centre for Holocaust Education at University College London, revealed more than a third of teachers in England used the bestselling book and film adaptation in lessons on the Nazi genocide.

However, its research found that the story by John Boyne about a friendship between the son of an Auschwitz commandant and a Jewish boy incarcerated in the death camp regularly elicited misplaced sympathy for Nazis.

The researchers attached no criticism of Boyne for his work of fiction, but said using the novel in lessons about a historical event could be problematic.