My Review of “The Tattooist of Auschwitz ” by Heather Morris

Kudos to Heather Morris, Author of “The Tattooist of Auschwitz” for combining the Historical Fiction and Fiction genres. From the Goodreads Blurb”, “The “Tattooist of Auschwitz” is based on the true story of Lale and Gita Sokolov two Slovakian Jews who survived Auschwitz and eventually made their home in Australia.”

In this novel, Heather Morris portrays Lale as a charming, and enterprising individual. To save his family, Lale volunteers to leave with the German Gestapo, believing that his family will be safe. Of course, Lale realizes when he is in a crowded Cattle Car, he suspects that this is the beginning of a devastating time. Lale does reach out and helps calm some other men. In Auschwitz, Lale somehow finds himself becoming The Tattooist, having to tattoo the numbers on his fellow prisoners. There he meets Gita, a young frightened girl that he has to tattoo. He falls in love immediately with her.

In the concentration camp, Lale is determined to survive. The role of “Tattooist” is regarded as a high ranking role, and could cause suspicion among the other prisoners.He is also carefully watched by the German guards and superiors. Lale is given a little more freedom, and food, and tries to live each day to survive.

Lale, being enterprising is able to gets his hands on food and other essentials to help others, by doing dangerous things. Lale feels he has to continue and uses the position of “The Tatooist” to try and help others.

These are deadly and devastating times, and many of the people in the camps have given into despair. Gale manages to find the will to survive and find love with Gita.

I appreciate that Heather Morris has done tremendous research and interview with Lale, who finally wishes to share his story so that others won’t forget what happened to so many people. I would recommend this story to readers of Historical Fiction that can read about the Holocaust. I received an ARC of this story for my honest review.

Though I’ve read many WWII novels I never grow tired of them. They never fail to educate, amaze & inspire me

Fabulous book. Thoroughly loved. Highly recommend!

Release Date: January 27, 2018
The Tattooist of Auschwitz was a book unlike any other.
I went to public high school in America, so my high school consisted of YEARS of World War II historical fiction and non-fiction books. I've read too many books on the Holocaust. Yet, this book gave me something more something in that dark, horrible time that every author missed.
It's a book about finding something to believe in and clinging to it with everything you can. Oh, and do what you can to stay alive.
Heather Morris tells this amazing story based on Lale Sokolov's life experiences in Auschwitz, where he also met his future wife, Gita.
The book creates such contrasting scenes and images of crematoriums alongside simple gestures of delivering chocolate to a girl. It was a beautiful story about love among all the hate. Loved this book so much!
Read it! Read it now!

A book about survival and love in the Auschwitz prison camp. Lale a well-liked , clever and resourceful Jewish prisoner becomes the tattoo marker for all prisoners arriving at this camp. This job has its perks and he is able to smuggle food , medicine , chocolates for other prisoners as well as ask for favours. He also falls in love with Gita and remarkably they both survive and eventually marry . This book describes the prison camp, its evil officers and doctors and the harsh conditions so many Jewish people and other races endured. The brutality is hard to read but there are many moments of kindness and humanity and definitely love in this book as well.

Quite simply, this was a beautiful love story. Lale and Gita overcame so much horror during the Holocaust and both survived and built a wonderfull life together in Australia. I can easily see how much love and care that writer Heather Morris had for putting this couple 's love permanently down on paper. No matter how many Holocaust survivors I have met, one thing they have all said is "Take my story and don't let it be forgotten." In addition the Author's note and an Afterword written by the couple's son are beautiful tributes to this lovely couple. Even reading those first will not ruin the story for you.

But the story does have some minor quibbles for me, which I feel a bit guilty stating. This was originally intended as a screenplay and in some instances the transitioning between chapters and events is a bit shaky. I read somewhere the suggestion that it is a good book to introduce young readers to the Holocaust. However, a lot happens and I think if I didn't have prior knowledge regarding Rudolf Hoess, Dr. Josef Mengle, kapos and Sonderkommando it might have let me to being a bit confused.

On the other hand, Heather Morris does put a detail in her book that I feel are better known in non-fiction and historical contexts. The story of the American planes that did take pictures from the sky of Auschwitz-Birkeneau. This was actually revealed in the 1970's by the CIA. I recall that aerial photo being perhaps one of the most important visuals at YAD Vashem in Israel when I visited. Such a big "What if?" in history. If only the photographers had known from the sky what they were actually taking photos of. Imagine!

All in all, it is a worthwhile story for people of any age.

BROOKE’S REVIEW

Heather Morris’ book, The Tattooist of Auschwitz, is a book that explores the true story of Lale and Gita Sokolov, two Slovakian Jews who survived Auschwitz and eventually made their home in Australia. It’s easy to understand how this story started as a screenplay. The action moves quickly, as Morris describes man’s inhumanity to man during the Holocaust.

While reading, you want this to be a fictional story, but it is not. Lale is put in charge of tattooing his fellow prisoners upon their arrival to the concentration camps. His one source of joy comes when he sets his eyes upon Gita, whom he falls in love with. Their love story is a tender one - one that defies odds in a brutal place.

This story is one that I am glad was recorded. It shows the horror of the concentration camps and the boundlessness of the human spirit.

PRAISE

“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 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

AUTHOR

Heather Morris is a Native of New Zealand now resident in Australia, working in a large public hospital in Melbourne. For several years she studied and wrote screenplays, one of which was optioned by an academy award winning Screenwriter in the U.S. In 2003, She was introduced to an elderly gentleman "who might just have a story worth telling". The day she met Lale Sokolov changed her life, as their friendship grew and he embarked on a journey of self scrutiny, entrusting the inner most details of his life during the Holocaust. She originally wrote Lale's story as a screenplay - which ranked high in international competitions - before reshaping it into her debut novel, The Tattooist of Auschwitz.

Many thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for providing me with a copy of this book in exchange for an unbiased review.

Wow. Almost don’t know what to say. This book is well written and sympathetic getting accross Lale’s story. He’s remembered so much detail throughout his life. What they endured really is horrific, I can’t begin to imagine. Everyone should read this book.

Poignant and powerful, The Tattooist of Auschwitz is the kind of book that wends itself around your heartstrings and moves you like a marionette. Yet, despite the darkness of the subject matter, and the knowledge that this novel is based on actual events, there is always an element of hope and determination that keeps it from being the kind of read that absolutely destroys you.

Morris does an incredible job of capturing the fleeting nature of both life and happiness in the face of annihilation, the necessity of never losing hope, and the paradox of privilege in captivity. The matter of fact portrayal of life in Auschwitz illustrates the realities of surviving in such a dog-eat-dog environment, without romanticizing the experience. Lale’s fortitude and eternal optimism is perfectly balanced by Gita’s reluctance to hope, and his endless compassion by the inherent viciousness of their captors.

While I went into this knowing that it was a fictionalized account of Lale Sokolov’s memoirs, I was struck by the accuracy and depth of the details therein. Everything from the timeline of the gas vans to construction of the gas chambers and crematoria, Baretski shooting the lights out when drunk to the timing of the various nationalities that were witnessed at intake all aligns seamlessly with the information available. The truth of this story is all the more impactful for those familiar with the events of the Holocaust, as the text is constructed in such a way that you feel these horrors twice – first when you realize what is coming next, and then again when Lale and Gita endure these events as they come to pass.

Despite Lale’s womanizing ways, he was a character that I couldn’t help but love. It is clear that he cares deeply for those around him as he takes immeasurable risks to bring them food and comfort. The food trade, contraband market, and ability to get items in and out of the camp made for a compelling read, especially since these methods were never used for personal benefit. And regardless of the profit garnered from the relationship, the kindness of Victor (and others) was like a beacon in the storm. Knowing that this account was based on memories, it is uplifting to see the kindness of those forced to participate in these terrible acts remembered honestly and fondly.

And that depiction on Dr. Mengele, shut the front door! My skin crawled every times he graced the pages. Yet, we know he was a million times worse in person from survivor accounts and war crimes testimony. There was nothing more uncomfortable than reading Lale’s experiences in Mengele’s laboratory, or Leon’s, except perhaps those moments when the ash from the crematoria is raining down upon the camps and the prisoners are able to identify the people to which those ashes belonged.

Finally, I was incredibly moved by Morris’ notes and Gary Sokolov’s afterward. The presence of these bits of commentary added further weight to the story, and the family photographs of Lale and Gita hit home in providing faces beyond those that I had imagined while reading. I appreciated Lale’s desire to have his story heard by an outsider without baggage, and truly feel that Morris has captured and retold this story with the utmost respect.

Would I recommend this story? A million times yes! This is a story that not only needs to be read, but it’s one that we can not afford to forget. It is moving, emotional, gritty, and most importantly, real.

This account of Lale's life is simply told and yet deeply moving. The pace is fast, sometimes too fast, it seems, with barely any detail leaving you wanting more; but at times the detail is such that it touches your soul deeply and you sense the courage drawn from deep inside, the trauma and desperation, the desire to survive and, of course the love between Lale and Gita and his selflessness to others. I'm glad to have been granted knowledge of what happened to Lale and Gita after the war, in the prologue, and was rather sad to have finished. I couldn't put my digital copy down, it moved me as much as any other Holocaust read, and am very grateful to Net Gallery for a copy in exchange for an honest review.

I’m always reluctant to read works of fiction dealing with the Holocaust - although I’ve read my fair share. It’s not that I find it too hard to read about atrocities, it’s that I worry that unless they are done right, fictional accounts run the risk of trivializing this horrific chapter in human history.

The Tattooist of Auschwitz reads like fiction, but is based on interviews the author conducted with its protagonist, Lale Sokolov, over a three year period very late in Lale’s life. A Jew transported from Slovakia to Auschwitz, Lale survived almost three years before the end of the war. For most of that time, he was assigned the task of tattooing numbers on the arms of Jews being brought into the camp. This gave him a bit of a privileged position in terms of food and housing, and also allowed him to move a bit more freely so he was able to develop a relationship with another prisoner, Gita, who is also a survivor. They married after the war.

The genesis of how Lale came to tell the author his story includes an admonition not to judge him until she heard the whole story. And this points to the core of Lale’s story. What does it take to survive in a place like Auschwitz? After, once you’ve survived, what rationalizations are required to stave off the guilt of surviving when so many died?

Ultimately, while it’s based in real historical events, The Tattooist of Auschwitz reads like a work of fiction. It is Lale’s recollection of his life during World War II as he has told it to himself. It reads like fiction because at times it does feel a bit romanticized or smoothed over around the edges. The atrocities are there, but Lale’s strong spirit and survival instinct seem larger than life.

This isn’t a criticism and I am not judging Lale. I suspect all survivors have to make sense of what it took to survive. I also suspect that they judge themselves far more harshly than anyone else does. I’m grateful to have had a chance to read about Lale and Gita’s story and I’m happy to know that they were able to make sense of their horrific experience and live happily for many years after the Holocaust. Their story is well worth reading.

Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for an opportunity to read an advance copy.

One of those books that will stay with me forever. Lale has volunteered to go and work for the Germans so as to save the rest of his family. Those who don’t “give” one son will be sent to the concentration camps This is the story of Lale’s journey through Auschwitz /Birkenau and of his presence of mind to live and to help others. This could be a work of fiction- it isn’t. Lale lived and saw so much that man should never have to see let alone think about. This, to me, should be compulsory school reading, so that the atrocities are never allowed to happen again, and that we all understand why so that man can live alongside man in harmony. This is captivatingly written and you take not only to Lale but to some of the others, some of whom only “live” for a few pages but represent so many innocent lives. A poignant, brilliantly told tale that I can’t recommend highly enough. I wouldn’t be surprised if this becomes a film (It started life as a screenplay). I do hope so as the impact it will then have would be tremendous. There aren’t the right words to describe this or how it makes you feel. So I will just say read it- you will be enlightened for doing so.

My goodness how to review a book that is harrowing, but also hopeful? A book that made me gasp in horror at man's inhumanity, but also marvel at man's hope and compassion for others.

As you can see this book has filled me with so many emotions whilst reading it and trying to put a review together. At times it was so easy to read, as the story is told in a easy going manner, but then there were times where I got such a shock, when Lale uncovers more harrowing scenes in the camp. The love story between Lale and Gita was amazing, making this part of the story heart-warming and full of hope.

This is definitely a book that will stay with me for a very long time. It also needs to be shared far and wide, to be read by all ages and all peoples, so that would happened is never forgotten, so that it never happens again.

This was my top book of 2017. A heartbreaking true story that reminds us of the horrors of the Holocaust but is also a tale of the fight for survival and finding love in the least likely of places.. We should never forget this horrific period in history and Lale and Gita's story will be with me for a very long time.

Author Heather Morris uses such a light touch to tell the harrowing tale of the prisoner of Auschwitz who became the tattooist. Despite the sheer horror of the setting, this is ultimately an uplifting story about love, survival and triumph. She came to know the tattooist, born Ludwig “Lale” Eisenberg, over the course of three years, and this book is based on his story. In the book, he is a truly remarkable human being. Viktor Frankl-like, he absolutely refuses to be a victim and chooses instead to survive. Lale, who has to tattoo numbers onto the arms of all newcomers to the camps (those who are not sent immediately to the gas chambers), is smitten by one of the girls he has to ink. Then, against the awful backdrop of death, torture and deprivation, the love story between Lale and Gita unfolds. Beautifully written, disturbing yet compelling.

What a remarkable story! This is unlike any book on the Holocaust that I have ever read, and is truly a must-read for 2018. Lale, a young Slovakian man, was sent to Auschwitz in one of the first groups of Jewish prisoners. Through a series of...Fate? Providence? Luck? he is assigned to be the tattooist of the concentration camp. He is constantly faced with moral dilemmas, gruesome deaths, and the possible loss of his true love.
Whether you've read everything, or nothing, on the Holocaust, read this. Everything about this story and this man's life will give you food for thought.

Author Heather Morris retells the story of Lale, a Slovakian Jew who is forced to work at the concentration camps at the Tätowierer during WWII. While working, he meets the lovely Gita, another Slovakian Jew, and is completely smitten by her. The two instantly fall in love and struggle to survive the camps of horrors. 

Lale enters Auschwitz full of optimism with a strong will to survive and does so by trading jewels from deceased Jews with nearby villagers for extra rations or goods. With his extra rations, he shares it among his peers and bribes SS officers in order to see Gita. However, upon his arrival, Lale falls ill and is taken care of by the tattooist who later takes him under his wing as the new tattooist. 

With a bright motto and an optimistic point of view, Lale and Gita's love story of survival captivate readers from the start. Through the eyes of survivors Lale and Gita, at times, the readers are transported to 1940s Auschwitz and Birkenau where they can experience the horrors of the camps. Despite the inhuman and unfortunate events that occurred in the concentration camps, Lale and Gita manage to find a little happiness and hope in a better future in each other.

Likes:

Everything. Heather Morris beautifully wrote Lale's tale and I hope we are able to see it come to life as I have heard rumors of a possible film. It is a very short read yet it can be quite detailed. This amazing novel took over three years to write using interviews with Lale himself shortly after Gita's death and before his death. It is quite moving and pulled at my heartstrings and at times, it made me tear up. 

Dislikes:

There's nothing much to dislike in my opinion.

“The Tattooist of Auschwitz” is the heartbreaking narration of the daily life of an ordinary man, Lale Eisenberg (a name later changed to Sokolov) who in 1942 ended up in Auschwitz and Bikernau. He is a jew, a prisoner in the camps, who was lucky enough to be designated tattooist, a position that allows him access to both the prisoners and the nazi guards. Fortunately for us, he and the love of his life Gita, lived to tell the tale.

Before I go into detail I must clarify that I don’t really care whether Lale was telling the truth about himself and his own actions. That is not the point of the book so don’t let yourself be distracted by the doubt. This book, apart from being an incredible love story, is telling you something about the human race, and you better listen to it:
How cruel can human beings be?
How compassionate can they be?
How far would they go in order to survive?
How far could you go in order to be able to tell the story on behalf of those that didn’t make it through?
How much can human beings endure?
How is it possible to remain human when you’re treated worse than cattle?

The list of questions like that could go on forever but I’ll just add one more... ARE YOU WILLING TO LISTEN?

The answer to all of those questions is what makes ordinary humans become heroes. Surviving the worst or enduring the worst until death makes you free. The answer was every man and woman, old and young who were and still are today trying to make it for another day at concentration camps, prisoner camps, extermination camps. Sentenced to die from the moment they step in.

According to Wikipedia Auschwitz-Bikernau is what we all know as Auschwitz. It is located in Bikernau, Poland, some 3 kms far from the original Auschwitz, it was also known as Auschwitz II. It was at Bikernau where Jews were exterminated en masse either in crematoria or in gas chambers.

It was at Bikernau where Gita “lived” while Lale was at Auschwitz. He had to tattoo her numbers on her arm. Now, the tattoos were only inflicted on Jews. And I really mean inflicted because the sanitary conditions were nonexistent. Not for the tattoos, not for nothing, they didn’t exist period. So it was when he tattooed her when they met and he fell in love with her. From then on his all of his life goes around Gita, and hers around his. When she agrees to be with him, he makes her a promise that is why and how they could survive. He promises that they will be free, that they will survive Auschwitz and that they will be able to go wherever they want, whenever they want and do whatever they want. With no one pointing a gun at them for the simple crime of smiling.

I’m not going to go into much detail because the book will be out soon and you have to read it. Seriously, you have to. You must simply know that he was the tattooist, that he had certain privileges in comparison with the rest of the people there, he had more security, for example (Jews and Gypsies were exterminated indiscriminately, and other people too, we all know that). This is what makes this book so valuable, that Lale was a priceless witness even though he was scarred and threatened too. Through Lale we know what life was like for the prisoners, that there were other race, nationalities, faiths, political affiliations. We get to know how and when the crematoria (the ovens) were built and when they started to work. We get to know how women were raped or used. We get to know about Doctor Mengele...

It is particularly hard to read the chapter in which Lale is made to go into a gas chamber in order to identify two bodies that seem to have the same numbers tattooed. I am not ashamed to say that I cried in that moment. And the words that were said to him afterwards (spoken by Baretski, his nazi guard):
“You know something Tätowierer? I bet you’re the only Jew who ever walked into an oven and then walked back out of it”.
What can you say to that? These were the cruellest words ever spoken.

Now, I haven’t read “The Divine Comedy” or any other book or document describing the different levels of hell. But now I know that there were many levels of hell at Auschwitz and Bikernau because both Lale and Gita had been in several of them and lived to tell. And yet, Lale says in the book that there was worse than the worst he had been in. And that, at some point, death was a better thing compared to to some of these hells.

This book is heartbreaking, hard, difficult, sad... but what amazes me is the hope, it is hopeful. Lale, Gita and many other people went to hell, and spent there three years of their lives, three years stolen from them, and they never lost hope. And they loved, and they were loved. It was love and hope combined what saved them. In Lale’s words, there must be a future for us, and you’ll see it. And now you can learn this story, read this book, and be a better person to others.

I adored this book. It's heart breaking yet makes your heart flutter. It deserves tons of awards and I wish it the best in the book world. The characters were fleshed out well, but sometimes I felt they were boring. The writing was good and it worked well with the story it was telling. Every piece of this book worked amazingly together and it's beautiful seeing how well crafted this story is! I can't wait to buy my own copy :)

A truly remarkable account of surviving a concentration camp

Lale Sokolov is a young Jew from Slovakia who was forced into a cattle wagon and taken to Auschwitz in 1942. There, he eventually becomes the “Tättowierer”, made to tattoo an identification number onto everyone that arrives to the camp and is deemed healthy enough to work. It is there that he meets Gita, the love of his life. He vows that he will do everything possible to leave Auschwitz alive. Every day he decides again to survive, keep his head down, and do as he is told. His job as Tättowierer has some perks, which he dutifully shares with as many people as possible. Over time, he gets to witness gas chambers and crematoriums, as well as the horrifying human experiments of Dr Josef Mengele. With a lot of luck, both Lale and Gita survive and can eventually be together.

Heather Morris tells an extraordinary true story of love and hardship. It is hard and sad to read of these horrendous crimes. What Lale and many others have endured is one of the biggest crimes on humanity. Beautifully written, this heart-breaking and thought-provoking novel is a firsthand experience of surviving Auschwitz. I am grateful to Lale Sokolov for finally deciding to share his story.