This book is based in 1942, during the holocaust.

A nine year old German boy named Bruno comes home from
school one day, to discover that all of his belongings are being
packed away. His father received a promotion, which means his
family must move from their home to a new house far away,
where they are on their own with no one to play with and
nothing to do. A tall fence running alongside stretches as far as
the eye can see, and cuts him from the strange people he can see
in the distance.

Bruno’s dream is to be an explorer. He decides that there must

be more to this horrid place than meets the eye. While he is
exploring his new environment, he meets another boy whose life
and circumstances are very different to his own. Their meeting
results in a friendship that has a devastating consequences.