Rating: ****
Tags: Australia, Sydney, Melbourne, Holocaust, Auschwitz, Birkenau, Jew, Jewish, Nazi, Germany, Second World War, World War II, gas chamber, crematorium, tattoo, tattooist, Slovakia, Poland, Final Solution, Mengele, Lang:en
Summary
The #1 International Bestseller &
New York Times Bestseller
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.
“
The Tattooist of Auschwitz
is an extraordinary document, a story about the
extremes of human behavior existing side by side: calculated
brutality alongside impulsive and selfless acts of love. I
find it hard to imagine anyone who would not be drawn in,
confronted and moved. I would recommend it unreservedly to
anyone, whether they’d read a hundred Holocaust stories
or none.”—Graeme Simsion,
internationally-bestselling author of *The Rosie
Project* 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. **
An Amazon Best Book of September 2018: Based
on the real-life experiences of Holocaust survivor Ludwig
(Lale) Sokolov, author Heather Morris’s novel is a
testament to the human spirit and the power of love to bloom
in even the darkest places. And it’s hard to imagine a
place darker than the Auschwitz-Birkenau concentration camps.
In 1942, Lale is rounded up with other Slovakian Jews and
sent to Auschwitz. Once there, he is given the job of
tätowierer, inking numbers into the arms of
frightened prisoners at a sickening rate. One of these
prisoners is a young woman named Gita--and in spite of their
plight, they fall in love. Lale’s position as the
tätowierer gives him privileges but does not
shield him from the brutality of the camps. Time and again he
risks his life to help his fellow prisoners, and my heart was
in my throat at the chances he took for Gita and others.
Despite the passing of years and the ever present threat of
death, Lale and Gita never stop believing in a future
together where they can live as husband and wife.
The Tattooist of Auschwitz is a beautiful and
life-affirming novel. Thinking about it still brings tears to
my eyes and warmth to my heart.
—Seira Wilson, Amazon Book Review
“Based on a true story, the wrenching yet riveting
tale of Lale’s determination to survive the camp with
Gita is a moving testament to the power of kindness,
ingenuity, and hope.”
“Like the Nobel Prize-winning author Elie
Wiesel’s
Night, Morris’ work takes us inside the
day-to-day workings of the most notorious German death camp.
Over the course of three years, Morris interviewed Lale,
teasing out his memories and weaving them into her
heart-rending narrative of a Jew whose unlikely forced
occupation as a tattooist put him in a position to act with
kindness and humanity in a place where both were nearly
extinct.” (BookPage) “The Tattooist of Auschwitz is the story of hope and
survival against incredible odds and the power of
love.” (Popsugar) “
The Tattooist of Auschwitz is an extraordinary
document.. I find it hard to imagine anyone who would not be
drawn in, confronted and moved. I would recommend it
unreservedly to anyone, whether they’d read a hundred
Holocaust stories or none.” (Graeme Simsion,
internationally-bestselling author of
The Rosie Project) “What an extraordinary and important book this is.
We need as many memories of the Holocaust as we can retain,
and this is a moving and ultimately uplifting story of love,
loyalties and friendship amidst the horrors of war.”
(International bestseller Jill Mansell) “As many interviews as I did with Holocaust
survivors for the Shoah Foundation and as many devastating
testimonies as I heard, I could not stop reading THE
TATTOOIST OF AUSCHWITZ—an extraordinary story of love
so fierce it sustained people enduring the unimaginable. Read
it, share it, remember it.” (Jenna Blum, NYT and
international bestselling author of
Those Who Save Us and
The Lost Family ) “To many, this book will be most appreciated for its
powerful evocation of the everyday horrors of life as a
prisoner in a concentration camp, while others will be
heartened by the novel’s message of how true love can
transcend even the most hellishly inhuman environments. This
is a perfect novel for book clubs and readers of historical
fiction.” (Publishers Weekly) “..this is a powerful, gut-wrenching tale that is
hard to shake off.” (Kirkus Reviews) “Although one might suspect that there’s far
more to his past than is revealed here, much of Lale’s
story’s complexity makes it onto the page. And even
though it’s clear that Lale will survive, Morris imbues
the novel with remarkable suspense.”
Amazon.com Review
Review
(People)
(Booklist)