The Tattooist of Auschwitz

The Tattooist of Auschwitz may seem on the surface like it will be just another in a long line of Holocaust fiction.  So the reader may be tempted not to pick this one up.  But it is again an incredible story of strength, perseverance, and incredible beauty in the face of unspeakable evil.

Heather Morris has written a beautiful novel based on the interviews and real life story of two Holocaust survivors.  She has captured the strength of character of Lali Sokolov, a Slovakian Jew, who was imprisoned at Auschwitz in 1942.  He is given the job of tattooing numbers on the arms of thousands of incoming prisoners. He falls in love with Gita Furman as he is tattooing her number on her arm.  From that moment on he is on a quest to outlive the war, marry Gita and live happily ever after with her. 

 He is incredibly strong and brave as he works to help others.  He is brave and noble and uses his special position int he camp to its slight advantage.  He is able to go places and talk to people that other prisoners are not allowed.  He is able to create a small black market of valuables that he can trade for food and medicine for the fellow prisoners. 

The reader is drawn into the daily life of what it was like in the concentration camps, both the living conditions and the interactions between the prisoners.  Also the interaction between guards and prisoners.  The relationship between Lali and the guard to escorts him to his post to tattoo prisoners and back to his bunk each day develops over time.

The novel is told from Lali's perspective and we learn so much about the life he led during his interment at Auschwitz.  Even blended between fact and fiction it is a captivating story that pulls at your heart strings and gives you another chance to believe in the goodness of mankind in the face of horrific circumstances. 

As I am reading newspaper articles about the book there are questions about its factual basis.  Are these the remembrances of an elderly man and not grounded in reality anymore?  Even if they are not based in complete facts, this is a love story that has lasted long after the war ended and they survived the horrors of the Holocaust to live a life of love and create a son who lives on.  Lali and Gita won and Hitler and his henchmen lost.  That is the important lesson.