PUB BY: ZAFFRE-An Imprint of Bonnier Books UK
Rating: 3 stars
The prologue sets the tone for this book—an imagery of fear, pain, hope and desire.
“The Tattooist of Auschwitz” retells the true story of Lale Sokolov, who is deported to Birkenau and Auschwitz and is impelled to take on the role of tattooist who imprints identification numbers on prisoner’s arms.
His existence gets a fillip when he meets Gita. Tattooing a number onto her arm, he loses his heart to her, and she becomes his strongest reason and determination to survive the horrors of the camp in the fervent hope of making a life with her.
Based on the author’s interviews with Lale Sokolov over three years, this is a love story budding amidst horror unfolding each day at Auschwitz and Birkenau. Tales of cruelty which arouse disbelief and revulsion in each heart even today.
The novel narrates his stay in the camp for more than two years- his tale of survival and a silent witness to unparalleled tales of inhumane terrors. Fear filled each breath with death hanging in the air.
“Nobody in Auschwitz or Birkenau put the fear of God in him quite like Mengele did,” says Heather Morris https://www.cbc.ca/radio/thecurrent/the-current-for-september-25-2018-1.4836552/the-tattooist-of-auschwitz-and-the-love-that-helped-him-survive-1.4836555
Herr Mengele, who was known to conduct inhuman medical experiments on humans, arrived at Auschwitz/Birkenau in May 1943. Just hearing his voice was enough to send chills down Lale’s spine. With his arrival, the book shifts from being a tale of Lale to being a tale of pure dread. Lale’s panic is now palpable… life had been merciful to him till then.
But amidst immense viciousness and grief, he manages to hang on to become a messiah for some: “Save the one, save the world.” Being in a slightly privileged position as a tattooist, Lale creates a web of bribery to buy food from across the fence to help stave off the hunger of as many as he can.
The character of Baretski, Lale’s senior, is intriguing. Sadistic. Merciless. But, completely shaken when he sets his sight on piles of dead bodies in the gas chambers. However, for Lale, he was the only ray of life for him and Gita.
This book, despite being acclaimed, has been questioned for its historical accuracy. Nevertheless, sections of Additional Information, Afterword by Gary Sokolov (Lale’s son), and Postscript all point to a genuine effort to establish the authenticity of the story.
As Heather Morris writes, “It became important for me to identify how memory and history sometimes waltz in step and sometimes strain to part, to present not a lesson in history, of which there are many, but a unique lesson in humanity.”
Preeta Chag 