Fiction- Accurate or inaccurate?

The Holocaust is one of the darkest events in world history with millions of people dying as a result. Now since it's been almost a century since the holocaust ended, there has been a plethora of representations across media whether it be video games, movies, tv shows or even comic books; each with their own take on its events. Now the question is…… How have these representations done at showing the horrors that occurred nearly 90 years ago? Are they all masterpieces? Or are they downright horrible and don’t do the historical event justice? Stay tuned as we dive into the rabbit hole and look at some different takes on the holocaust.

The Wolfenstein games are one of the more popular games that are centered around the Holocaust with multiple games in the series that started way back in 1981 with the most recent game Wolfenstein Youngblood Being released in 2019. A new game is currently in development with a 2027-2028 release. 

Now the games are well reviewed with players praising the series for their gameplay, story, weapons and characters. According to one source, 2014's Wolfenstein: The New Order is one of the best in the series with one person giving it a 5 star rating and a positive review "The story and atmosphere were amazing. Honestly one of the best FPS campaigns I’ve ever played.". (Radulovic, Aleksa. “7 Best Wolfenstein Games Ranked) 

While the reviews are positive, how has the series done at portraying the Holocaust? The games do show concentration camps or forced labor camps as they are called and also shows the horrible living conditions. That being said there definitely some historical elements to the games, but it is also fiction. In the world of Wolfenstein, the Nazis won the war and have spread their control into other countries. Throughout the franchise, players battle monsters and soldiers armed with robot suits and weapons that are the prime definition of science fiction. To say these games are absurd is a good description but just like other forms of media that tackle historical events, they paint pictures of what might've happened during these times which can help viewers get a better understanding of what it must have felt like. 

According to one source "I mention this not to delineate or say that depictions of atrocities should not be depicted in any form, to which I’d argue against to the extent that works like Death Mills become required viewings in context with other contemporary atrocities and genocide studies in primary education, but to desire the due diligence to further depict and discuss atrocities within all media. We need to move further in our representation of all atrocities, like that of the Holocaust, in order to fully grasp their effects outside of this infallible narrative; that incidents of such tragedy can only be delineated through somber remembrance. " (Le, Mason. “Wolfenstein and Atrocity Images in Games and Media) . Sure people can look at images taken during real life events but that may not be enough to clearly get an imagination of what happened.

Here is a video clip that shows a concentration camp mission in one of the games

https://youtu.be/eGTRqDhe9tI?si=EyRwuSr9yCouiFuX

The Boy in the Striped Pajamas movie is a popular and heart wrenching movie that does a good job at showing how the Nazis view the Jews. The movie received some mixed reviews with some praising it's depiction of the Holocaust while others thought it sympathized the Nazis. The movie and the book of the same title showed a young boy named Bruno who befriended a Jewish in a concentration camp named Shmuel. Bruno doesn't understand why his new friend is wearing those striped pajamas and why he is treated poorly which shows how children view the world vs adults. This is an example of childhood innocence and naivety and shows how children don't understand why things happen the way they do and just want to explore. (Shoemaker, John. Exposing the Real Enemy)

Now how did the movie do? As said previously, the movie has received some mixed reviews with one review saying " The plot is simple but very emotional, moving and sometimes shocking.The acting is natural andd believable,especially the two boys.The photography is realistic and creates a sad atmosphere. In my opinion, the film is touching and thought-provoking. I really recommend it because it is unforgettable." (“The Boy in the Striped Pajamas: Audience Reviews.”) The review mentioned was one of the many 5 star reviews about the movie and it is easy to see why. The film did not heavily rely on action as most movies often do, instead using emotion filled moments to tell the story. This can make it easy to connect with characters like Bruno because he represents what most kids his age are. 

While there are positive reviews, there are also negative reviews as well with an example being "This movie was straight up depressing! I get it’s a film set during World War 2, but they DID NOT need to go too far with the whole “slave” drama happening and it has such an awful ending. Literally the first 10 minutes of this movie was the one thing I enjoyed in it. ". (“The Boy in the Striped Pajamas: Audience Reviews.” ). Now this review does have a point that the movie was definitely "depressing" but that also can be a good way to show exactly how it was during the Holocaust. These were tragic times and the movie is much more realistic than Wolfenstein so it did not rely on science fiction and hardcore action to tell the story. The Boy in the Striped Pajamas  uses the emotional moments to get people to really understand just how horrible times were back then. 

Both Wolfenstein and The Boy in The Striped Pajamas are popular titles when it comes to Holocaust media. Both portray the events in different ways with one major difference being action vs emotion. The Wolfenstein games rely heavily on action to tell its story as players are killing Nazis in many different ways ranging from close combat to stealth to gun fights. It shows the violence of war while showing the tragedies that occurred both in World War 2 and the Holocaust. The Boy in the Striped Pajamas takes a different route as it uses emotional themes like friendship connections and childhood innocence to tell the story. 

When it comes to what did it better, that depends. Wolfenstein nails the violence and gruesomeness of the Holocaust albeit exaggerated. While it does have historical events, the games are 100% fictional and completely different from real life as there were no robot suits in the Holocaust. The Boy in the Striped Pajamas takes the cake in realism as it is more closely in line with what actually happened and shows what many survivors of the Holocaust described as a hopeless and depressing time which nobody knew how (if it would) it would end.

Le, Mason. “Wolfenstein and Atrocity Images in Games and Media | by Mason Le | Medium.” Wolfenstein and Atrocity Images in Games and Media, June 23, 2025. https://medium.com/@mason.le.dm/wolfenstein-and-atrocity-images-in-games-and-media-eef1c919d43b. 

Radulovic, Aleksa. “7 Best Wolfenstein Games Ranked (2025 Definitive Guide).” Eneba, May 5, 2026. https://www.eneba.com/hub/games/best-wolfenstein-game/?srsltid=AfmBOopvgmCxmgVoHULfeT9aJLjPd79JugEUWyf4yyFdt-3pObGRUrP1. 

Shoemaker, John. Exposing the Real Enemy: The German People’s Fear of Exposing the Real Enemy: The German People’s Fear of Exploration in The Boy in the Striped Pajamas Exploration in The Boy in the Striped Pajamas, 2011. https://knowledge.e.southern.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1004&context=jiur.

“The Boy in the Striped Pajamas: Audience Reviews.” Rotten Tomatoes. Accessed May 10, 2026. https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/boy_in_the_striped_pajamas/reviews/all-audience. 

YouTube. Accessed May 10, 2026. https://youtu.be/eGTRqDhe9tI?si=Ucd58XPHtHSlRqpc. 

YouTube. Accessed May 10, 2026. https://youtu.be/Mu8uIOjLKwg?si=XWNAbLD06PulTm2p.  

“Wolfenstein: Youngblood – Launch Trailer.” bethesda.net. Accessed May 10, 2026. https://bethesda.net/en/article/6FE2JwNCO8YQuZHLh0nkCy/wolfenstein-youngblood-launch-trailer.

“The Boy in the Striped Pajamas.” Plugged In, February 24, 2020. https://www.pluggedin.com/movie-reviews/boyinthestripedpajamas/.