takes place at the Auschwitz concentration camp which is located in southern Poland. For Bruno, this is a massive location change. Prior to being at the camp, Bruno's family was living in Berlin which was a magnificent city at the time, and readers are constantly reminded about how much Bruno liked it there. Other setting locations are places within Bruno's house. He spends time in his room, his sister's room, the kitchen, etc.

John Boyne's The Boy in the Striped Pajamas takes place in Nazi Germany. The main character, Bruno, moves with his family from Berlin to "Out-With," which is actually Gretel's way of pronouncing the name of one of Germany's most notorious death camps: Auschwitz. Gretel (Bruno's slightly older sister) explains:

I heard Father say that whoever lived here at Out-With before us lost their job very quickly and didn't have time to make the place nice for us.

Though the concentration camp bore this name, it was also the name of the town where it was located, on the border between two countries: Germany and Poland. Auschwitz had originally been Polish, but it was "incorporated within the German Reich" in 1939. It was not returned to the Polish until after World War II. The "extermination" (concentration) camp was built there in 1940.

Bruno's father originally works in Berlin, though Bruno is not sure what he does.

But when they asked Bruno what his father did he opened his mouth to tell them, then realized that he didn't know himself. All he could say was that his father was a man to watch and that the Fury had big things in mind for him. Oh, and that he had a fantastic uniform too.

For those familiar with the history of World War II and of Nazi Germany, "Fury" refers to the Fuhrer, the name by which Adolf Hitler, the leader of the Nazi movement was called.

The people Bruno and Gretel see from the window are boys and men:

There were small boys and big boys, fathers and grandfathers. Perhaps a few uncles, too.

As the inmates at Auschwitz were separated men from women, Bruno and Grete are only able to see the males. Later Bruno will meet the "boy in the striped pajamas," when he goes where he is absolutely not allowed to go—called "Out Of Bounds At All Times And No Exceptions." The boy's clothes are not pajamas, but a uniform issued to the captives at Auschwitz. The boy's name is Shmuel, and because he has a star on his "pajamas," the reader will realize that Shmuel is a Jew. Of all the races of people the Nazis endeavored to destroy, they passionately tried to exterminate the Jews more than any other group.

So the story is set some time after 1940, when the labor camp was built, but prior to the end of the war (1945) when those who remained alive at Auschwitz were freed by the Allies—in this case, the Red Army (soldiers of the Soviet Union). And Bruno's father is a member of the Nazi army.

In The Boy in the Striped Pajamas, Bruno and Shmuel come from very different backgrounds. Bruno is a German, the son of a senior Nazi commandant. His home in Berlin is substantial and his life is privileged. The family has a maid, a cook and a butler to assist in running the home and Bruno's father is apparently very strict and business-like, with an office at home which is "out of bounds at all times with no exceptions." Bruno's parents have high expectations of good manners and obedience from their children and Bruno's mother is dutifully expected to attend to her husband's wishes and the demands his job places on the family. There is no doubt of the importance of Bruno's father. Bruno recalls how "Father held a hand in the air, which immediately caused the other men to fall silent" (chapter 5). 

Shmuel's family is quite different. Shmuel is Polish but can speak fluent German. Bruno believes that Germany must be "superior" (chapter 10) to Poland because of something his father said, but there is no malice when he says that and he has no idea how offensive his words are. This reveals more about the society in which he has grown up and his closed view. Shmuel's father is a watchmaker and the family used to live above Papa's shop. Unlike Bruno's strict family environment, Shmuel's family always used to eat breakfast together "until one day things started to change" (chapter 11). 

The setting in the story includes the social and historical aspect as revealed above and which has been established by this crucial part in the story when the boys cement their friendship. In their current circumstances, both boys find that they have a lot in common and their shared birthday is the first thing that gives them their special bond. The current location of "Out-With" which Bruno incorrectly pronounces is the main geographic setting which is contrasted with Bruno's home in Berlin and Shmuel's carefree existence before both boys came to this "desolate" place. 

The story opens in Berlin, then, as now, the capital of Germany. Bruno's father is a senior officer in the SS, and is rapidly rising through the ranks. His fanatical loyalty to the Nazi regime has earned him a promotion, given to him personally by Hitler himself. From now on, he'll be the commandant of the Auschwitz concentration camp in Poland, a notorious place of death and suffering, where millions of men, women, and children, mostly Jews, are to be murdered as part of a campaign of mass genocide.

Of course, Bruno's father, as a fanatical Nazi, doesn't see it like this. He sees his promotion as a great opportunity to serve the regime to which he's devoted his whole adult life. It's only toward the end of the story, when tragedy befalls his own son, that he starts to experience something of the sorrow and emotional pain that he has helped to inflict upon so many innocent people.

The story takes place during WWII at the Auschwitz concentration camp which was located in Southern Poland, thirty-seven miles West of Krakow. "Out-With," as Bruno refers to it, was opened in May of 1940 and was both a concentration and extermination camp where Jews, Gypsies, German political prisoners, POWs, homosexuals, and Jehovah's Witnesses were imprisoned as part of Hitler's "Final Solution." Throughout the novel, Bruno's father is the Commandant of the Auschwitz concentration camp who is in charge of the systematic extermination of Jewish prisoners. The setting of the novel is around 1943 and follows the nine-year-old protagonist's experience at his new home at "Out-With." Following Bruno's unfortunate death, the Commandant loses his mind and is relieved of his position. Historically, Auschwitz was liberated in January 1945 by Soviet troops, forcing the Nazi SS officers and 60,000 prisoners to evacuate the camp. 

Chapter 1 provides the first setting that describes place:

Bruno could see right across Berlin if he stood on his tiptoes and held onto the [window] frame tightly.

Bruno and his family thus begin in Berlin, Germany. This place is significant because of the time period. The conflict of this book occurs during World War II, when Hitler ruled Germany and killed millions of people throughout Europe.

The impact of the period of time in which the novel is set is significant, as well. In chapter 5, Bruno asks his father about the people he can see from the window in his new home. They all "look the same" and live in little "huts." Bruno tells him that those are not people at all, not as Bruno understands the term. Bruno is confused, but his father, a Commandant in the German army, tells him not to worry about it. The impact the time period's influence is evident when young Bruno begins to leave, and his father calls him back:

He pushed his two feet together and shot his right arm into the air before clicking his two heels together and saying in as deep and clear a voice as possible—as much like Father's as he could manage—the words he said every time he left a soldier's presence.

'Heil, Hitler,' he said, which, he presumed, was another way of saying, 'Well, goodbye for now, have a pleasant afternoon.'

Bruno's innocence is juxtaposed to his father's hatred and racism; the fact that this story is set in World War II provides the needed context to highlight a young boy's struggle to comprehend the evil in the world around him.

Bruno's family moves right outside Auschwitz, which he hears as "Out-With." This is one of the largest and most horrific concentration camps ever built, and Bruno is confused by the lives of the people who are confined on the other side of the fence. It is here that young Bruno forms a friendship with an imprisoned boy, not ever fully understanding why he lives there or what happens within that space.

The story is initially set in Berlin, Germany sometime between 1939 and 1945 at the height of the Nazi regime. Bruno grows up in a massive, beautiful home with many rooms, which is located in the middle of town. He enjoys exploring his home and sliding downs its large banister at the beginning of the novel before his family is forced to move after his father receives a promotion to work as the commandant of the Auschwitz concentration camp.

The setting of the story then shifts to Bruno's new home, which is located on the premises of the Auschwitz concentration camp in Nazi-occupied Poland. Bruno's family's new home is not nearly as extravagant or interesting as his previous home in Berlin and is located nearby the concentration camp. The home is just outside the extensive barbed wire fence that encompasses the entire concentration camp. Bruno is portrayed as a naive nine-year-old boy, who does not comprehend the gravity of the situation inside the concentration camp and does not fully understand his father's job. He also refers to Auschwitz as "Out-With," which emphasizes his innocence and naive perspective. At the end of the novel, the setting once again shifts to inside the Auschwitz concentration camp after Bruno sneaks underneath the barbed wire fence to help his Jewish friend, Shmuel. Inside the fence, Bruno experiences the horrors that Shmuel and countless Jewish prisoners faced during the Holocaust before he is quickly herded into a gas chamber, where he dies a tragic death next to his close friend.

The setting in a novel always has to do with two specific elements:  setting of time and setting of place.  The Boy in the Striped Pajamas is no exception, as it is set in a very specific place and time: Nazi-occupied Poland in the 1940s.  There are several geographic details that confirm this.  First, we know from Bruno's comments that he is upset at being moved from Berlin.  However, because Bruno's father is a Nazi commandant who is stationed to help control the Polish Jews in the new concentration camp called Auschwitz, the family had to move.  The most important geographic detail is that Bruno can see the prisoners of "Out-With" (Auschwitz) from his house.  This proves that Bruno now lives in Nazi-occupied Poland, where Auschwitz is located.  After the Nazis invaded Poland, they considered Poland to be a part of the Nazi empire.  This detail is furthered by the exact position of Bruno's home in relation to the concentration camp.  Bruno's home is not simply in the same town, but is within viewing distance from his house.  This is what allows Bruno to see the "farmers" in the "striped pajamas" who are "peeling potatoes."  Therefore, in this case, geographical details reveal not only the general place (Poland occupied by the Nazis) but the specific place (a home adjacent to Auschwitz).