Trigger Warning!!: WWII, the Holocaust, death, injury, dehumanization, and genocide.
The Tattooist of Auschwitz by Heather Morris tells the story of Lale Sokolov, a Slovakian Jew during WWII, and his experience being rounded up and taken to Auschwitz. This is based on the real life experience of Lale and his wife Gita Furman, told by Lale to Heather Morris and then published. This book is filled with detailed information about how Jewish persons were mistreated and abused in the years leading up to and during WWII. It is packed with emotion and guides the reader through the thoughts and actions of Lale and those he was imprisoned with. Of course, this summary and review will not be able to capture the level of detail so please go read the book for yourself (if you are able) and experience the raw emotions firsthand.
Book Summary (plus thoughts while reading):
Lale Sokolov is 25 years old in 1942 when he “volunteers” to go work for the Nazis. The Nazis are forcing all Jewish families to send one child to work, and Lale does not want the rest of his family to be broken up, so he offers to go. He is loaded onto a train cattle car with countless other Jewish men. The conditions are like nothing you could imagine, no room to breathe, no food or water, no private way to relieve yourself. This is just the first example of how the Nazis treated Jews and other groups of people, with no regard to human dignity or privacy, with no humanity at all. This is a common theme throughout the book, as I’m sure many of you could guess.
When the train finally stops they are ordered to get out and leave their belongings in German, which many of the men can not understand. Anyone who is too slow or does not follow the directions are beaten or shot. Lale does his best to translate to those who can not understand. There is a clear divide here between Lale, who is showing compassion to those around him despite his fear, and the Nazis who do not care whether the prisoners can understand them or not, and are just as happy to shoot them. They have no empathy for those they are in charge of.
Once off the train, the entire group receives a tattooed number on their arm and are forced to shower en masse, and have their heads shaved and clothes taken from them. Now they all look alike and are practically indistinguishable from one another in the Nazis eyes. This process was done to further dehumanize the group. To the Nazis, they are no more than a herd of cattle. It is unbelievable that human beings were able to do this to other human beings, how the Nazis were able to abuse millions of people without feeling what they were doing was wrong. There are moments in this book, relatively normal everyday conversations between Lale and various Nazis, and it’s very hard to stomach that the Nazis were able to converse with the prisoners and joke with them, while also sending them to their deaths without caring. It is sickening to say the least.
The prisoners are then divided up into different Blocks where they will sleep. Lale finds himself in Block 7, which is cramped and dirty. In the middle of the night Lale gets up to relieve himself and is traumatized by witnessing the death of three prisoners shot for doing exactly what he got up to do. In the morning the prisoners receive small amounts of soup and are assigned tasks. Lale is assigned a builder and climbs up onto a roof to lay tiles. He gains information from two Russians also on the roof about how the camp is run.
After a few days of hard work and little food, Lale falls ill and is almost loaded onto a cart of the dead and disposed of, but his bunkmate removes him and nurses him back to health (which he is eventually killed for). The current tattooist, a political prisoner from France, takes an interest in Lale because of his bunkmates willingness to save him from death. Lale is then offered a job as the tattooist’s assistant, a position that is easier work and might keep him out of harms way. Lale is reluctant to assist the Nazis in mutalating innocent people, but is eventually convinced. This is a common theme throughout the book, prisoners being worried they will be seen as accomplices to the Nazis. It is a valid fear too, one we will never be able to fully appreciate and understand today. Faced with life or death, what are we willing to do or not do in order to survive? And does that make us complicit? I don’t believe you could hold someone personally responsible for their actions in conditions like these, not in Lales case at least, but it did plague the minds of many Jewish prisoners during the Holocaust.
Although physically easier, the tattooing job presents constant moral challenges for Lale. Tattooing women and the young and elderly are particularly hard for him, but he is reminded that someone else in his position might not care as much as he does, and make it more painful for the prisoners. He does his best to provide what little comfort he can to the new arrivals as he gives them their numbers. One day the Frenchman disappears and Lale becomes the new head Tattooist. He is moved to a new private block with his own room and given extra food rations. Lale smuggles most of his extra rations for those in need at his old bunk. He requests an assistant, Leon, hoping to make someone else’s life a little easier (Leon is eventually singled out by a heartless doctor who performs experiments on the prisoners. Leon is sterilized against his will). Lale also encounters other workers at the camp, villagers from nearby who come to work on construction sites and go home at the end of the day. He finds out sickening news from a pair of them who say they have seen the plans to begin constructing at least three crematoriums. This can only mean mass killings of the prisoners. Lale is able to secretly trade jewels and valuables for food from these villagers. The valuables come from women who sort the former belongings of the prisoners. Lale then distributes the sausage, chocolate, and medicine he gets to his friends and those in need. He quickly builds a reputation as the tattooist and the one who gives out food and other assistance.
At this time, Lales finds interest in a girl he tattooed, and asks his commanding officer Baretski to deliver a note to her. They agree to meet up on Sunday, a day most prisoners do not have to work, to talk. Her name is Gita, but that is all she will tell him. They both form a liking for one another and Lale goes out of his way to see Gita and her friends, bringing them extra food. Lale is eager to discuss his hopes for the future with Gita, but she is less convinced they will make it out of the camp alive. At one point Gita gets sick and must be drug to and from her job by two of her friends so she is not put on the death cart. It is astounding to me how much courage and strength the prisoners were able to show, both Lale and Gita had people willing to risk their lives for them. Even though nearly everything was taken from the people at Auschwitz, they were still able to form relationships and look out for one another. That gives me hope, seeing the humanity in such desperate situations as these. Lale and Gita start seeing each other more often by bribing Gitas commanding officer, and things are going well.
Unfortunately for Lale, his hidden stash of valuables is discovered and he is sent to the punishment blocks where he is meant to be tortured into giving information about his accomplices. The torturer turns out to be Jakob, an American prisoner Lale tattooed and gave some extra bread upon his arrival, saving him from starvation. Because of this, Jakob tells Lale he will make the beating look much worse than it actually is, and will make sure to kill Lale quickly so he does not have to divulge any information to the Nazis. Lale takes comfort in this. When the time comes, Lale is beaten and whipped and pretends to faint. Jakob tells the Nazi guards that he is just a “weak Jew” and if he knew any information he would have given it up by now. Remarkably, Lale is the only Jew to leave the punishment blocks alive.
Lale is returned to his position as head tattooist and his special accommodations, which he now shares with a community of Roma who were also imprisoned by the Nazis. Over time, Lale becomes very friendly towards the Roma; sitting and telling stories, playing with the children, and giving them his extra food. He comments to them that had the circumstances been different he probably would have crossed to the other side of the street had he seen them approaching, to which they reply that they would have crossed the street first. A sense of family is built between Lale and the Roma people which ends in tragedy and horror as they are all rounded up one night and taken from their block. Lale is horrorstruck and doesn’t know what to do. The next day when ash begins to rain from the sky, he knows what has become of his friends.
After three years in Auschwitz, the Russians start to advance through Poland, which makes the Nazis nervous. They behave erratically and begin destroying records of what happened in the camps. They round up all the women and take them out of the camp, which is horrible for Lale to watch, not knowing if Gita will survive and how he will find her if she does. As the camp descends into mass chaos, Lale is pushed onto a train right before the Nazis open fire on the remaining prisoners at Auschwitz. Lale is transported to a few different concentration camps before escaping through a hole in a fence in Vienna. He walks until he comes across a group of Russian soldiers who think his language skills could be of use to them. They take him back to their headquarters and he is treated like royalty compared to the last three years in Auschwitz. He sleeps on a comfortable bed and is given real food and clothes to wear. He feels his old self slowly coming back. The Russian soldiers want him to go to the village and find women willing to come and sleep with them in exchange for jewels or money. Lale is very successful at this because of his good communication skills and general respect of women. Respect of women (or lack thereof) seems to be a common theme in this book, both the German and Russian soldiers having to be schooled by Lale on what women want and how to treat them properly.
As all this is happening, Gita and the other women from Auschwitz are walked miles and miles as they slowly begin to tire and stumble, at which point they are shot. In a moment of confusion Gita and three others escape to a nearby farm which they are temporarily safe at. They are shuffled from house to house until Gita is able to ride in a grocery truck back to Slovakia, where she is from.
After gaining the Russians trust, Lale takes a car and escapes from their headquarters. He begins the long journey back to his home where he finds his sister is still alive (the rest of his family are dead or have unknown whereabouts). He tells her about Gita and she insists that he find her. He goes to Brtislava and waits at the train station every day for two weeks. One day he sees her in the street and falls to his knees. He asks her to marry him, and she of course says yes. A happy enough ending for Lale and Gita, but for millions of Jews, political prisoners, Roma, the disabled, and LGBTQ persons, there was no happy ending.
Additional Information and Importance:
Books like this are hard to read; the horrifying details of the Holocaust seem unreal to many nowadays but it is important to remember that these events actually happened, and were allowed to happen for far too long. It is important to learn about this piece of world history so that we don’t allow it to happen again. We are each responsible to knowing the warning signs and calling out those who seek to inflict violence and alienation on other groups of people.
According to the Holocaust Encyclopedia, the Nazis targeted and imprisoned people of color, LGBTQ, Jehova’s Witnesses, those with dissabilities, Poles, political opponants and citizens who dissagreed with them, Roma, criminals, war prisoners, and of course the Jewish population. The first concentration camp was opened in March 1933, and the last was liberated sometime in 1945. That means forced labor, starvation, and genocide were functioning parts of the German Empire for 12 years. Although it is difficult to determine the exact number of people murdered by the Nazis in this 12 year period because of the records they destroyed, it is estimated that 6 million Jews, along with 6 million others from various religious, national, and political groups lives were taken. This does not include the large number of people who died as a result of the war itself.
Just imagine your family and friends, and the life you’ve always known completely upended for no other reason than your religious beliefs, or that you have a disability. It is horrible to think about, and unimaginable to live. This is why we must remember the events of the Holocaust, because as a species we are capable of causing unimaginable pain and suffering to our own kind, and we must not let that happen again.
I know this has been a heavier book than the ones I’ve previously reviewed, so thank you for reading and considering this topic. Let’s all be thankful we are not living in this reality, and do our best to prevent anyone else from ever having to experience what Lale, Gita, and so many others did.
-Atlas
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