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 … 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.
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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.
This is the powerful and emotional story of young love in Auschwitz. Lale ends up in Auschwitz after volunteering to go to a work camp to save his family. He is given the job of tattooer, to tattoo an identifying number on the prisoners’ arms after they arrive. With the arrival of some females, Lale locks eyes with Gita as he tattoos her arm and it was love at first sight. This is their story of resolve, inner strength, love and survival. What a great read! I received an ARC of this fantastic book from NetGalley and the publisher in exchange for an honest review.
This story takes you right into the horrors of Auschwitz through the eyes of Lale, a young Jew, who falls in love with Gita, a fellow prisoner, and will stop at nothing to ensure they survive. Parts of this book are incredibly hard to read but it is beautifully written and impossible to put down. Heather Morris is a fine writer and superb storyteller.
Let me start by saying I didn’t go out and buy this book. A friend lent it to me, saying I should read it, so I felt compelled to do so. And once I started I couldn’t put it down.
I think this is called historical fiction … based on truth & fact but perhaps over time some of the details have been blurred, so it’s not quite considered a biography? I’m not sure, but if you read the author’s notes you’ll see this was written after three years of interviews with Lale.
I enjoyed this book—especially knowing that Lale & Gita survived.
I did struggle with the lack of emotion sometimes, and yet at the same time I think I was grateful for it. I got through the story. I continued reading, every word on every page. I might not have done if it had been written with greater (and heartbreaking) detail. But in reading the epilogue and author’s notes, it became evident that this was how Lale presented the story—as a series of scenes, remembered by an old man who had lived through an horrific ordeal, and who had emotionally distanced himself from the horror in order to survive.
I’m glad I read it. I think most who read it will also be glad they did.
I want to start off by saying that reading the reviews before reading this book. Wow a lot of mixed reviews on this book. I am glad that I read this book anyways. I really enjoyed yet it was a hard read due to the sadness and the bravery. He knew no matter what he was going to survive.
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“ I will live to leave this place, I will walk out free man. If there is hell, I will see these murderers burn it. “ Lale is a young man sent to what he thought just regular workers camp. From there we read his truth and his journey. Beautiful story and glad that Heather was able to write this story about Lale. Highly recommend this book. If you like books about WW2.
This was quite a new perspective on surviving inside one of the camps. It was still about survival, but in a different way. Help others when you can and help yourself and don’t be afraid of love. Don’t be afraid of hope.
A must read for everyone.
What an incredible story of a horrific world. It just beats contemplation to think that this is a true story, and only one of many such stories. Deeply moving, inspiring, and heartbreaking. Such a poignant read.
I found this book to be a highly engaging read. Beautiful and heartbreaking at the same time.
To think what they both went through during this time period it’s just horrific.
A story that needed to be told so that we learn from past mistakes.
Based on a true story, The Tattooist of Auschwitz is gripping, intriguing and harrowing. This story of love is mixed in with the complexity and horrors of the Holocaust. It is heartwarming to see how friendships and love can survive in the inhumanity of Auschwitz. Definitely worth the read.
Based on a true story, this is the moving saga of a man’s ability to survive the worst and triumph over the horrors of the Nazi regime. It is also a love story that shows how love survives and triumphs over evil. Hard to put down!
This book kept me up to read more and more of it.
The sadness of realizing how awful Human beings can be to another person is so heart wrenching.
And yet, even at the worst of times our basic desire to survive and still try to reach out and try to help someone is a testimony of the love and God given desire to live and help one another in the midst of great evil.
Human resiliency is powerful and amazing. Conversely, the cruelty some persons are capable of inflicting on fellow humans escapes me.
This well told story of human resiliency and survival relates the true story of Lale and Gita with sensitivity and realism. Love, the will to live, faith, and fate are all threads woven into the story of these young, Jewish captives held in Auschwitz.
This is a very interesting true story of the tattooist in Auschwitz. I knew from my other historical reading that being either the tattooist or working in the crematorium made you anathema to your people. I was very interested in seeing how this author was going to deal with that topic. Honestly, I felt it was barely skimmed over. Instead, we got a story that was so rich and complex that it read like fiction. I listened to the audio book and the narration was outstanding. Looking back on how we experience the overwhelming need/want/imperative to survive. Many decisions are made on a daily basis just to survive one more day. There is a “love story” right in the middle of man’s greatest inhumanity to other men. I found it both mind boggling and a sign of resistance. If I didn’t know this was a true story I would have written how unbelievable it was. I’m a firm believer in learning from history and making that internal vow of “never again”.
I do recommend this book because it’s not preachy, morbid, or overly voyeuristic. It has strong themes but equally strong is the bright light of the triumphant spirit of man. “Where there is life, there is hope”. I immediately re-read this book upon finishing.
Powerful and beautifully-told story.
The Tattooist of Auschwitz by Heather Morris is Historical Fiction. The story is based on interviews by author with Lale Sokolov, a Slovakian Jew who was a tattooist during the holocaust. The story was interesting, writing style pleasing, and lots of action. I think some of the stories in this book did not seem completely plausible when compared to other fiction and non fiction accounts of Nazi death camps. I did enjoy reading this book and found it an interesting story of resilience.
Great book about trying to survive during the Holocaust. Set in one of the worst concentration camps. Tells the experiences they went through and what means they had to use to survive. Shows how cruel people can be to one another as well. Yet the “human” condition remains even amongst the Germans who are the “villains”.
Terrific book! This story is intense and moving. I would recommend this book for book clubs—ample opportunities for discussions.