Holocaust z pohledu dítěte. Hledání souvislostí i rozdílností intertextuálních a historických
The Holocaust from a Child’s Perspective: Seeking out Intertextual and Historical Connections and Differences

Summary/Abstract: It might seem somewhat risky to carry out a comparison of two poignant works on the theme of the Holocaust, depicting the period between the years 1942 – 1944, specifically from the perspective of a child. The time has now seemingly come, however. These consist of the authentic narrative The Diary of Anne Frank (1944) and the novel The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas (2006) by the Irish writer John Boyne. Both books have been translated into Czech and made into films. Both involve dialogues with the time which is being depicted. The current study seeks out links and analogues between the two child characters, despite there being completely distinct socio-cultural contexts. The study attempts to explore connections both in terms of relationships and space which might serve to find answers to those burning questions involving the collective memory. The study carries out an analysis and interpretation of the smaller motifs, specifically space and time, differences and contacts with other people, relationship asymmetry and the limitations connected with it, what is our own, known and close. All of this serves to not only contribute to the authenticity of the works of literature but also helps emphasise the humanity. The diary written by the fourteen-year-old girl Anne Frank has become a memento raising a number of problematic questions. It has inspired a number of artists to create adaptations and has first and foremost served as inspiration for the publication of additional authentic reflections. These are attempts at strengthening consciousness of the formation of the identity of children, unreduced to mere ethnicity or nationality, in both a prose and diary form. The novel The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas is a story of friendship between a nine-year-old, the son of a high-ranking Nazi officer, and a Jewish boy from a concentration camp and this despite the mass extermination of the Jews, the individual life experiences of a certain time and the social context and place where they meet.

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