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Bruno’s father, known simply as “Father” in the novel, is a commanding officer in the Nazi Party who takes charge of operations for the Out-With (Auschwitz) Camp in Poland. Father has spent all of his adult life in military service. He fought in the German Army during World War II. Following the war, he rose through the ranks of the Nazi Party. In the months before the beginning of the novel, Adolf Hitler promoted Father to the rank of commandant then shortly thereafter offered him the position at Out-With. Whereas Father’s own father champions his achievements, the women in his life feel less pleased with his involvement in the war. Mother constantly argues with Father about the hardships his work situation has caused their family. Grandmother goes even further, vocally denouncing her son’s involvement with the Nazis and proclaiming her disgust for Germany’s military actions. Despite these critiques, Father remains staunch in his commitment to the Nazi Party and its overreaching ideals. In particular, he upholds the standard Nazi narrative that other European nations treated Germany unfairly after World War I and that the German extermination of the Jews provides a method for “correcting” that great wrong.
