By Andriana Simos.
I can’t see myself growing tired of books based on a true story anytime soon- Heather Morris’ The Tattooist of Auschwitz definitely reignited that fire! The book recounts the incredible story of tattooist Lale Sokolov and his struggle to survive as a Jew in the Auschwitz-Birkenau concentration camp. Along the way, he falls in love with Gita, a young woman he was forced to mark with the number 34902.
In the camp, Lale’s selfless acts of love for Gita are a poignant contrast to the calculated acts of brutality enacted by the SS officers. During some of the more tense moments, it feels like Lale is a cat with more than nine lives. I was constantly on the edge of my seat waiting to see if he would overcome the next hurdle or succumb to an unjustified death like his fellow Jews.
It’s important to note here that these hurdles faced by Lale could not always be overcome alone. Along the way he came into contact with a number of significant characters including fellow tattooist Pepan, Gita’s friends Dana and Cilka and SS soldier Stefan Baretski. These characters, both good and bad, played an important role in Lale’s survival and Heather Morris impeccably weaved their storyline throughout Lale’s to add an air of mystery and unpredictability.
In fact, the relationship between Lale and SS officer Baretski is one of the more unsettling dynamics of the novel. Baretski is quick to remind Lale that he could kill him on a whim, yet also opens up about women and his abusive childhood. This ambiguity around whether Baretski was an “enemy” or “trusted confidante” continues throughout the entire novel and left me on tenterhooks whenever Baretski’s signature line: “Tatowierer, let’s get moving!” popped up on the page. I could never tell whether Baretski would be walking Lale to his job or worse, to his death.
This character storyline was not the only unique aspect of Heather Morris’ novel. What I also found incredibly shocking was the lack of detailed death scenes. Having read similar novels about concentration camps, I was expecting vivid descriptions of the gas chambers as well as the piles of bodies gathering at the edge of the camp. What Heather Morris did was something very different yet no less dramatic. Death and the gas chambers continued to be omnipresent in the camp however, they were shown from a distance and through the eyes of the tattooist who had marked these prisoners for their death in the first place. Reading about how Lale dealt with his fear of being labelled a traitor as he watched his fellow Jews being murdered, made the gruesome scenes of death seem even more intense and incomprehensible.
Although there will be no spoilers here about whether both Lale and Gita are taken to their own deaths in the camp, I will say that this novel accurately captures the humanity of an extraordinary man. The people he meets along the way can see this humanity and struggle to help “the one” survive. For that alone, you should delve into this story of triumph and most importantly, love above all else.
Simos Standpoints 