Shmuel's Journal

A picture of me

This place is horrible. Even worse than the train we took to get here. Sometimes I wish we can just pack up and go home. The soldiers are terrible, because they keep hitting me, and my Mother. Yesterday, my Father was taken on another march, but this time, he never came back. My Mother and I wept tears of sadness and grief for him, for it will not be the same without him.

I need to do something about it. Its a good thing I still have Bruno, my best friend ever. Bruno is a German boy from the other side of the fence, who has kindly brought me food, and talked to me everyday, for the past months. We talked about everything, even about how Papa went missing. I wish he can help me somehow.

Last night Bruno told me some sad news -- He was going back to his old home in Berlin. Oh, how I wish I can go back home, back to our old watch shop, where Papa used to make these beautiful watches for us. Anyways, Bruno told me that his parents decided that they were going back to Berlin, so we wouldn't be seeing each other anymore. That makes me happy for Bruno, in a sense of getting out of this horrible place, but sad, due to the fact that I wont be seeing him anymore. Things would be much different without Bruno to comfort me each and every day.

Bruno, the other day, came up with a wonderful idea. It would give us our final chance to explore and play together for once. It would also give me a chance to go look for Papa, without being afraid, with Bruno there to comfort me. If we found Papa, maybe I wouldn't be as sad as to Bruno's departure. Our adventure would begin first thing tomorrow! I can't wait!

Reflections on the Journal 

I chose Shmuel as my first journal entry, because I believe that if he had a journal, he would have some important things to say. I also think that he is an important part of the story. The friendship between Bruno and Shmuel is the basic foundation of the story's plot, and it would be wrong not to showcase it in a journal.

The time frame of the journal is when the night after Bruno proposed that they would explore the camp, and find Shmuel's father. This stood out to me because Bruno would get his first impressions of the Camp, and about Shmuel's life on the other side of the fence.