he has never seen a skinnier or "sadder boy" in his life (Boyne 107). On several occasions, Shmuel describes difficult, unhappy situations, such as leaving Poland and being bullied. He mentions to Bruno that he does not enjoy living behind the fence and wishes that he could leave.

Shmuel is also a forgiving individual. In Chapter 15, Bruno lies to Lieutenant Kotler and claims that he does not know Shmuel. Bruno also tells Kotler that he has never seen Shmuel before in his life. Shmuel ends up being beaten by Kotler because Bruno lied. After almost a week passes by, Bruno finally sees Shmuel and asks Shmuel if he will forgive him. Shmuel quickly tells Bruno that it is all right and smiles to signify that he has forgiven Bruno.

In the novel, The Boy in the Striped Pajamas, Shmuel is a boy the same age as Bruno.  In fact, they both have the same birthday, April 15, 1934.   

Shmuel is a Jewish boy from Poland and is a prisoner of war in Auswitz.  In many ways, he is the antithesis of Bruno.  They represent opposite sides of the war: the German “Nazi” side, and the Jewish side.  Bruno is a German, living in a beautiful, comfortable home, with parents who love him. Shmuel is living in a prison camp, wears striped “pajamas,” and has a Star of David armband.  He is separated from his mother, and he and his father were imprisoned together.   

The boys form a friendship and Bruno learns many hard lessons from Shmuel.  He learns that Shmuel is hungry, that he has no freedom, and that he gets beaten by the soldiers.  On one occasion, Shmuel is brought into the house to clean glasses because his hands were small.  Bruno notices the difference in their hands. 

“Although Bruno was small for his age, and certainly not fat, his hand appeared healthy and full of life.  The veins weren’t visible through the skin, the fingers weren’t little more than dying twigs.  Shmuel’s hand, however, told a very different story.” (pg 167-168)

When Bruno sees Shmuel in the kitchen, he is thrilled.  However, Lieutenant Kotler finds them conversing and notices that Shmuel has eaten something, something that was given to him by Bruno. When Shmuel says that he and Bruno are friends, Bruno, in fear of Lieutenant Kotler, denies it. 

"He’d never seen anyone look so terrified as Shmuel did at that moment and he wanted to say the right thing to make things better, but then he realized that he couldn’t; because he was feeling just as terrified himself.” (pg 172)

Shmuel is severely beat, and Bruno feels very ashamed.

“He had never felt so ashamed in his life; he had never imagined that he could behave so cruelly.  He wondered how a boy who thought he was a good person really could act in such a cowardly way towards a friend.” (pg 174)

Two boys the same age, nine, represent two sides of the war. They were born the same day and died the same day.

Shmuel is wise beyond his years. Despite being the exact same age as Bruno, he knows considerably more about the outside world than the German boy. This is because, as a member of a despised minority, Shmuel has been forced to grow up quickly due to the persecution of his people.

As one of the many victims of the Nazis' systematic attempt to destroy the entire Jewish population of Europe, Shmuel has never had a chance to enjoy a carefree, happy childhood. As such, he's become much older than his years. He knows much more about the world than Bruno, and much more than he'd care to.

Shmuel is also highly intelligent. Unlike Bruno, he knows that they're in Poland. He also knows where this is located in Europe (Bruno thinks it's in Denmark). It's clear that Shmuel has received a sound education, albeit one that was inevitably cut short by the war. Contrast this with Bruno, who's been indoctrinated with Nazi ideology from an early age and encouraged to believe that Germany is superior to every other nation on earth.

Despite his hopeless situation, Shmuel is a very friendly young man. That he's able to become friends with a German boy, the son of the camp commandant at that, says a lot about his character. This indicates that, despite all that he's been through, all the many horrors he's witnessed and endured, he still retains his basic humanity.

Shmuel is the name of a character in John Boyne's The Boy in the Striped Pajamas. Shmuel is the boy who is befriended by Bruno. Bruno notices that the boy is shoeless and is wearing striped pajamas. Shmuel, after many conversations with Bruno, promises Bruno that he will get him a pair of striped pajamas so that he will look like the people on Shmuel's side of the fence. Unfortunately for Bruno, the pajamas that Shmuel gives to him leads up to the death of both boys. The boys, based upon their clothing (the striped pajamas) are lead into the gas chamber and put to death.

As for the meaning of Shmuel's name, as noted above, its Hebrew meaning is "his name is God." The name Shmuel mirrors the Greek and Latin Samouel and is seen in popular culture as Samuel.

Shmuel’s much more worldly than Bruno, and not simply because of the extreme hardship that he and his family have been forced to endure. Despite being the exact same age as Bruno, Shmuel’s more educationally advanced. His mother was a teacher and it was she who taught him German. Shmuel knows a lot more than Bruno about the outside world; this gives him a broader understanding of the war and the true nature of the Nazis’ persecution of the Jews.

Shmuel acts with kindness towards Bruno and considers him a true friend, even though he knows that his father is the camp commandant. His kindness is also shown by his love for animals; he wants to work in a zoo when he grows up. On the whole, one would have to say that Shmuel’s is a very strong, mature personality for someone of his age. It’s truly remarkable that he’s managed to retain a sense of decency and humanity despite the myriad horrors to which he’s subjected on a daily basis.