Tattooist of Auschwitz (2018) - Book Review
MY REVIEW
Publisher: Harper (September 4,
2018)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 006287067X
ISBN-13: 978-0062870674
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“In April
1942, Lale Sokolov, a Slovakian Jew, is forcibly transported to the
concentration camps at Auschwitz-Birkenau. When his captors discover that he
speaks several languages, he is put to work as a Tätowierer (the German word for tattooist), tasked with
permanently marking his fellow prisoners.
Imprisoned
for over two and a half years, Lale witnesses horrific atrocities and
barbarism—but also incredible acts of bravery and compassion. Risking his own
life, he uses his privileged position to exchange jewels and money from
murdered Jews for food to keep his fellow prisoners alive.
One day
in July 1942, Lale, prisoner 32407, comforts a trembling young woman waiting in
line to have the number 34902 tattooed onto her arm. Her name is Gita, and in
that first encounter, Lale vows to somehow survive the camp and marry her.
A vivid,
harrowing, and ultimately hopeful re-creation of Lale Sokolov's experiences as
the man who tattooed the arms of thousands of prisoners with what would become
one of the most potent symbols of the Holocaust, The Tattooist of Auschwitz is also a testament to the
endurance of love and humanity under the darkest possible conditions.”
As with any Holocaust
novel, there is no real “happy” ending. There is a “better than it could’ve
been”, but there were no happy endings.
“The Tattooist of
Auschwitz” is a compelling novel by Heather Morris, who has a somewhat “sequel”
coming out in October 2019 – “Cilka’s Journey". Cilka is introduced in
this novel as one of Lale’s tattoo jobs. Part of her story is told here.
This book does have some
strong language in it, and Morris did take some creative liberties with certain
things.
Lale Sokolov, born Ludwig
Eisenberg in 1916 in Slovakia was transported to Auschwitz-Birkenau April 1942
as prisoner #32407. He is first assigned as a laborer for the expanding camp.
After serving Typhoid, he was assigned as an assistant to the camp’s Tätowierer
(German for tattooist), Pepan.
In July 1942, he is
responsible for tattooing a group of women which doesn’t sit well with him;
still he has to do it. Prisoner #34902 (there is some dispute about the number
as she had it removed in her 60’s). He knows only her first name – Gita.
After Pepan goes
“missing”, Lale is put into the position. It is also because he speaks several
languages – Slovakian, German, Russian, French, Hungarian and a bit of Polish.
From there, “The
Tattooist of Auschwitz” not only recounts the horrors of the camp, what the
Nazis do there – but Lale soon falls in love with Gita.
Lale’s position means
extra rations and less monitoring, he is able to barter with local villagers
for items and some of the prisoners are able to trade him cash/gifts which he
used to “pay” for the items. At one he is caught and sent to the penal unit which
he wasn’t expected to escape from. Yet he did and was sent back to his former
job as tätowierer.
After three years at the
camp, and prior to the liberation of the camps, Lale is transferred to
Mauthausen in Austria. After escaping, he is captured by a Russian army and
forced to work with them for several weeks before he escapes them and makes his
way to Bratislava.
He then, by chance, is
reunited with Gita. It is there he changes his last name to the Russian last
name of his sister (Sokolov) which is more acceptable in Slovakia, now
controlled by the Russians.
His story didn’t end
there – they married in October 1945 and started a textile business which was
successful, but later arrested due to his support of Israel. After a two year
prison term, Lale and Gita then head traversed Europe, and are unable to find
employment. Eventually they board a ship to Sydney and finally settle in
Melbourne where they have a son, Gary.
At the age of 78, Gita
passed in October 2003.
It is after her death
that Lale wants his story told, and Morris is chosen to write it. Lale didn’t
want to be viewed as a collaborator, which is what happened to some Jewish
people who worked with the Nazis, if only for survival. After Gita died, he
wanted the story told. Cilka’s fate is also mentioned here in the “Insights”
part. However that doesn’t stop my interest in her story or the book.
Since this originally
existed as a screenplay (script) and is the author’s debut novel, Morris does a
pretty decent turn at telling Lale’s story which he wanted told. Lale died
three years and 28 days after Gita. Some will be put off by the author’s
writing style which is unconventional.
This is an incredible
story that left me speechless. It was powerful, poignant, so devastating,
heart-breaking, yet in a weird way inspiring. It's one of those books that you
have to be in the mindset to want to read.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Heather Morris is a native of New Zealand, now resident
in Australia. For several years, while working in a large public hospital in
Melbourne, she studied and wrote screenplays, one of which was optioned by an
Academy Award-winning screenwriter in the US. In 2003, Heather was introduced
to an elderly gentleman who ‘might just have a story worth telling’. The day
she met Lale Sokolov changed both their lives. Their friendship grew and Lale
embarked on a journey of self-scrutiny, entrusting the innermost details of his
life during the Holocaust to her. Heather originally wrote Lale’s story as a
screenplay – which ranked high in international competitions – before reshaping
it into her debut novel, The Tattooist of Auschwitz.
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