The Tattooist of Auschwitz

 

The Tattooist of Auschwitz by Heather Morris

Fiction

2018 Harper Paperbacks

Finished on August 21, 2022

Rating: 3.5/5 (Good)

Publisher's Blurb:

This beautiful, illuminating tale of hope and courage is based on interviews that were conducted with Holocaust survivor and Auschwitz-Birkenau tattooist Ludwig (Lale) Sokolov—an unforgettable love story in the midst of atrocity.

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.

Had I read the cover of the book, I would have known that The Tattooist of Auschwitz is based on a true story, but I didn't realize this until I reached the afterword and the author's note. I wonder if that information would have made a difference in my overall reaction to Morris' debut novel. It took me a while to get hooked, and I found the simplistic writing (particularly the dialogue) halting and awkward, but I was eventually drawn into Lale and Gita's story. I've read many novels set during World War II, including several set in the concentration camps, and while I liked learning about Lale's experience as the "Tatowierer," I didn't learn anything new about Auschwitz or the Holocaust. Lale and Gita's love story overshadows the horrors of the camp, which are given a cursory nod; it's the budding romance that takes center stage. 

There is controversy over the validity of the historical aspects in Heather Morris' novel; Gita's tattoo number, and the story about the use of penicillin on a prisoner, are just two examples. Click here and here to read more.