The Boy in the Striped Pajamas Chapter 7 Summary

How It All Goes Down

How Mother Took Credit for Something That She Hadn't Done

  • Several weeks pass and Bruno realizes he needs to entertain himself or he'll go crazy, so he decides to make a tire swing and heads outside to find an adult to help him. Unfortunately, the only one around is creepy Lieutenant Kotler (the blond soldier).
  • Kotler calls Pavel (the Jewish potato peeler) and orders him to get a tire from the storage shed; Pavel drags the tire to the oak tree and helps Bruno set it up.
  • Bruno swings too high and falls off, hitting his head and cutting his leg open.
  • Worry not, though, Pavel to the rescue—he carries Bruno to the kitchen and cleans and bandages his wound.
  • Bruno worries that he'll have to go to the hospital, but Pavel assures him he won't and reveals that he's a doctor himself.
  • Bruno doesn't believe him, though—this guy is a potato peeler, and potato peelers are not doctors.
  • Bruno's mom comes into the kitchen and tells him to leave; he overhears her telling Pavel not to tell the Commandant that he cleaned Bruno's wounds.