The Boy In The Striped Pajamas

It’s been so long since I posted anything on my Blog. It plays on my mind at times when I think of something that I want to write about. It happened when I saw the trend of gymming on the rise. When I noticed the glamour attached to Endurance, Fab, Gold’s Gym, Abs and the like, felt like penning down my thoughts about how branding works. In this case, it was definitely good. To cut the long story short - Even though it has turned the health freaks into class conscious individuals, it had to start with turning normal people into health freaks!

Well, today I watched a movie about World War II. The Boy In The Striped Pajamas. Lately (in the past 2 months) I’ve developed a curiosity and a hunger to read about the war. I think it started when I saw Schindler’s List and then I’ve been trying to get my hands on everything to do with the topic. I read The Odessa File by Fredrick Forsyth. Had tried to read The Day of the Jackal by the same author but it was too confusing so I abandoned it. When I picked up The Odessa File I was expecting something similar considering my previous experience with the author’s work and the title of the current book. I had expected the book to be about the Ukrainian city or something else equally boring to me. The zest that this book brought in was incredible. I did a lot of reading online about the era, the camps, the doctors and experiments, SS officers still alive, etc.

Had read Anne Frank’s Diary when I was 13 but did not remember anything (like a normal teenager back then, I was more interested in her personal life). Felt like reading it again and this time, I paid heed to the progress of the war and the living conditions that the Jews were subjected to.

Even though I was aware of the mass murders of the Jews, somehow, it all seemed a lifetime away and quite so unreal that it never could evoke any emotion in me. It seemed like something that happened in a different world. I couldn’t grasp the gravity of the situation and it didn’t sound inhuman to me when I had heard about it initially. It was something that happened and we were taught in a matter-of-fact kinda way. Even when I learnt German in school, even when we studied history, even when I heard about it from friends or read The Day After Tomorrow or Making History.
But lately I’ve been quite obsessed with it. Want to read up the Nazi ideology. Found a book in the Southern Command library that a friend can get issued. Now to wait till I can borrow it J

And I know I aint the only one with profound interest in the past. The Second World War is definitely fascinating and has caught the interest of many. It’s been playing on my mind for a while now so just thought of recording a few thoughts J Until next time!