a concentration camp without armed guards on the perimeter?

To be fair the fence was electric

The biggest plot hole is why they didn't secretly dig a hole while covering it up so ppl could escape rather than get into the camp.

Yeah, there probably wasn't because they didn't make that point by showing at least one in a plot-line setting such as this.

But, on the other hand, it doesn't need to be a plot hole.

Just because we don't see any, doesn't mean there couldn't be some. We could easily and perfectly logically imagine that there were guards and that the boys simply got lucky that none of the guards happened to stumble upon them while they were pulling off their plan. And that the film makers simply didn't bother wasting minutes on a suspencful scene with a guard because Bruno was supposed to succeed at the first try anyway.
This doesn't necessarely have to mean all that gigantic suspencion of disbelief.

After all, what would be the odds of a scared 8-year old child being mentally and physically abused day after day in a consentration camp trying to escape - especially when the place is surrounded by an electric fence and his family still in there? Chances of the guwards giving a crap about the boy hanging near the electric fence are slim, in my opinion. Especially after weeks or possibly months of him hanging out there but never trying anything.
And let's not forget that they let him literally out of the camp all the way into Bruno's home, and he never made an effort to escape.
Or how they severely beat him up just because he supposedly helped himself to eat food at a nazi residence.
So I don't see why the guards would pay much attention to Shmaul's hanging around the fence even if they saw him, and they most certainly wouldn't expect anyone, much less an 8-year old child to dig his way in.
As for Shuel getting the pyjama for Bruno...One of his jobs could've been doing something with them, thus allowing him access to them. I mean, how else would he have known where they are or been so sure that he could sneak some out.

Still of course they needes some luck, and perhaps a bit of suspencion of disbelie is needed with that...But not enough to take the matter to a plot hole levels, in my opinion. It just includes some unexplained background information.

If there had been guards on the perimeter, the movie would not exist. In addition, most of the children under 12 were gassed immediately after stepping of the trains. They were not fit for heavy labor. I think we are expected to look past the inconsistent details to understand the meaning of the film.

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It's not a plot hole. This is a concentration camp..the people held there are literaly starving, even if they wanted to escape I doubt they would have the strength to do so. This isn't like the old unrealistic Hollywood movies where everyone acts as though they are fine and starts plotting escape routes a la The Great Escape ( which was not even a concentration camp anyway ..)This was far more realistic, and also, you didn't see the whole camp for most of the time, just the tiny part where the boys met. So really we the audience can't say with any certainty that the camp lacks guards.

It's not a plot hole. This is a concentration camp..the people held there are literaly starving, even if they wanted to escape I doubt they would have the strength to do so. This isn't like the old unrealistic Hollywood movies where everyone acts as though they are fine and starts plotting escape routes a la The Great Escape ( which was not even a concentration camp anyway ..)This was far more realistic, and also, you didn't see the whole camp for most of the time, just the tiny part where the boys met. So really we the audience can't say with any certainty that the camp lacks guards.