One of them is a girl called Gita who captures his heart immediately. Given a reason to survive Lale uses his position for the greater good even through struggles and extreme suffering, with the hope of one day being with Gita forever, outside of the camp.
Although upsetting, saddening and at times quite unimaginable, there is such a beautiful love story at the heart of the tale that you can't help smiling at. I immediately took to all the real life characters, they were excellently portrayed whether good or bad and could imagine the whole true scenario with such clarity.
The author Heather Morris took several years to write Lale's story in her book with the input of the main protagonist himself and even becoming a very good friend with him. She has ultimately written a story Lale would be very proud of and which tells of his and Gita's tale of wanting to be together through one of the worst and sickening periods of our history with the utmost care and consideration.
Compassionately written with sensitivity, its emotive, thought provoking, awe inspiring and certainly puts your own everyday problems into perspective.
This book wasn't as brutal and as hard hitting as some holocaust books I've read although equally saddening, therefore I feel this could be read by slightly younger readers without offending or upsetting. I really can't recommend this stunning book highly enough, it a definite must read for and it gets a fantastic 5 stars for a heart wrenching unforgettable read. View all 69 comments. This is part of my Goodreads reading challenge for as the runner up in the "Historical Fiction" category.
It has since been brought to my attention that this isn't historically accurate but it doesn't really change my review. As awful as it sounds, I felt so… detached from the characters. Characters inspired by true events during WWII. It was simply not well written. You would tel This is part of my Goodreads reading challenge for as the runner up in the "Historical Fiction" category. You would tell me 12yo wrote this I would believe you. The whole book was "this happen, they said that and that happened It was skeleton of a story it's only pages!
Skip it, there are so many other amazing WWII books out there! View all 36 comments. Right after I started reading this book there was a story on the local news about a new exhibit at the Jewish Community Center in our area. The exhibit highlights the Holocaust survivors from this area.
At kiosks you can click on a name, read a bio but what struck me the most was that you can also see a video of the survivor telling their story. The utmost importance of these stories is reflected at the beginning of this book by author Graeme Simsion: "It reminds us that every one of the unimagi Right after I started reading this book there was a story on the local news about a new exhibit at the Jewish Community Center in our area.
The utmost importance of these stories is reflected at the beginning of this book by author Graeme Simsion: "It reminds us that every one of the unimaginably large number of Holocaust victims was an individual with a unique story It's really not possible to know what it was like in Auschwitz or the other camps no matter how much we read about the Holocaust, but it is through the stories of the survivors that we can try to understand, even if only a little.
Heather Morris has retold the story of Lale Sokolov, a Jewish prisoner at Auschwitz who becomes the camp tattooist and while there finds the love of his life, Gita.
This stared out as a screenplay she wrote as Lale told her his story and has been developed into this "novel". Lale from the first day he arrives in Auschwitz by cattle car, makes a vow to himself that he would survive this and after falling in love with Gita, he makes a promise to her that they will have a life together when they are out. That he can speak multiple languages saves Lale multiple times as well as connections made with other people imprisoned, with workers from the outside and even a German guard.
With jewelry and cash gotten from the women who work in the building where belongings are sorted, Lale with his savvy, his courage and with some luck barters for time with Gita for the price of chocolate, a piece of sausage , a hunk of bread, a diamond or ruby. But he also provides as much food as he can to others. He helps many people along the way putting himself in danger each day as each day he tattoos numbers onto the arms of the new inhabitants.
He does seem to have an existence in some ways better than most in the camp and better than when he first arrived until he is caught with the jewels.
It is obvious that he survives, so there's no spoiler here that Lale continues to have the capacity for hope and love that seems impossible as he endures. This is a story told with love about courage in the face of the horrors of the camps and loss of family, courage sustained by the strength of the human spirit and it's a love story that I'll never forget.
There is not much more I can say other than what Lale himself tells Morris - that he wanted his story recorded so "It would never happen again. An interesting tale based on a true story but not really comprehensively told.
I enjoyed what was there but there seemed to be so much left out. Lale was obviously a charming rogue who managed to survive all those years in Auschwitz despite bringing himself to the attention of the authorities repeatedly and in very serious ways.
It was amazing that a life long love affair could have begun in such a place, and even more amazing that they both survived and found each other again after the war. Obvi An interesting tale based on a true story but not really comprehensively told. Obviously it was meant to be. There must have been a lot more to this story than we are made aware of. I found the author's style to be simplistic which left me detached from events. I even felt occasionally that the book was aimed at a young adult audience as various atrocities were mentioned only in passing.
As a reader I never felt the pain or the sorrow, just watched it from a distance. To me the author let the subject down. Fortunately the story is so incredible it stands up for itself.
A good read, but not a great one. View all 23 comments. Mar 11, Tammy rated it liked it. I recall, as a child, accompanying one or the other of my parents to our family jeweler countless times.
It seemed as if some piece always needed to be repaired or purchased for one occasion or another. For my tenth birthday I received a small sapphire and diamond ring which was too large and needed to be resized. One day after school off we went to see Marty and Irv. It was an unseasonably warm fall day and Irv had his shirtsleeves rolled up. When he placed his arm on the glass countertop, I sa I recall, as a child, accompanying one or the other of my parents to our family jeweler countless times.
When he placed his arm on the glass countertop, I saw the tattooed numbers on his arm for the very first time. I felt, also for the first time, a cold clenching my stomach. That very day, at the age of ten, I had watched Night and Fog as part of my fifth grade curriculum and my physical reaction was the painful shock of recognition.
It was disturbing to me that this kind and gentle man had been subjected to and survived the death camps. What I will say about this book is that it tells a story of hope amid horror.
I will also say that the writing is sophomoric. However, I do think this is a book that is well suited for young teens as an introduction to this very dark part of history.
View all 50 comments. Rather than read the print version of The Tattooist of Auschwitz, I chose to listen to the audio version, narrated by Richard Armitage, who is becoming a favorite narrator of mine. In this book, we follow twenty six year old Lale Sokolov, a Slovakian Jew, forcibly transported to the concentration camps at Auschwitz-Birkenau, in We learn of his love for a young woman who he meets in the camp, when he tattoos her arm, as he did for other prisoners entering the camps.
Lale passed away in but spent the three years before he died, relating his memories of his time at Auschwitz.
The story is brutal because this is the story of the Holocaust. The horror of what happened to over a million people is behind this story of two people who survive the camps and live to marry and raise a son. Lale wasn't willing to tell his story until his wife died because he was afraid of being labeled a Nazi collaborator, due to his work as a tattooist and the privileges he received for doing such work.
As with other stories about the Holocaust that I have read in the last two years, my mind can't even grasp the horror of what happened. It is through reading stories like this that I want to remember the people who lost their lives, many of them lost in a pile of bodies, never to be identified, once they were taken prisoner and having their humanity diminished by men who thought they were better. The entire time I read books like this one, my heart goes out to each individual that suffered I don't want to forget what happened, as hard as it is to remember.
I was able to borrow this book from Hoopla, via my local library. Published September 4, View all 59 comments. Unfortunately, as much as I wanted to love this book, it fell quite short for me. Perhaps it was the expectation I always harbor for a book about the Holocaust, or perhaps the book contained things that I just had a hard time believing.
This was basically a love story between two people, Lale and Gita who met while she was waiting to be tattooed by Lale and instantly fell in love. They manage to meet on many occasions and share time together and even make love. Lale, meanwhile is able to collect Unfortunately, as much as I wanted to love this book, it fell quite short for me. Lale, meanwhile is able to collect diamonds, money, and other jewels from people working in the sorting of prisoners' clothes which he barters for food, chocolate, and other things with a Russian workman and his son.
He shares his food with those that he can which of course is a wonderful thing to have done. Eventually, when the war is close to ending, he is freed and while Gita has been sent away from Auschwitz he eventually meets up with her and they marry and have a son after immigrating to Australia.
In thinking about this novel, I believe it was the writing of the story which held it down for me. It seemed that the author made the telling so matter of fact and I could not perceive an emotional empathy that one is ever so sure any prisoner in Auschwitz would certainly have had. I know that both Lale and Gita were real people who suffered immensely in the camp and of course lost so many family and friends.
My heart breaks ever time I read a book that details the atrocities that were done to the Jews, Gypsies, handicapped and others during the war. So, I am very sad that I did not connect with this story. At the end of the book, Lale and Gita's son wrote a foreword which was quite good with the right amount of emotion and love for his parents. I think perhaps he should have taken up the task of writing his parents' story. For through his few short pages, I saw more of Lale and Gita than the author showed me with the entire book.
Interestingly I just read this article View all 44 comments. A unsettling but gripping novel, based on the true story of Lale, a Slovakian Jew caught up in the horrors of the Auschwitz-Birkenau concentration camp during WW2. He speaks several languages, so soon finds himself employed in the camp as the tattooist, the man responsible for inscribing prisoners numbers on their arms.
He soon meets and falls in love with Gita, a fellow inmate. This is a beautifully told tale, Heather A unsettling but gripping novel, based on the true story of Lale, a Slovakian Jew caught up in the horrors of the Auschwitz-Birkenau concentration camp during WW2.
This is a beautifully told tale, Heather Morris captures the essence of the camp well. I visited Auschwitz-Birkenau earlier this year and found it to be chilling and disturbing. One can only speculate at the deranged minds of those that caused such suffering. I read through this book it quickly in one sitting, and though it outlines the horrors of war, it shows the strength of the human spirit, and that there is always something to hope for.
Highly recommended, this is one that will stay with you for a long time. View all 30 comments. I don't think I quite prepared myself, or wasn't able to entirely remove myself from the novel, so became completely invested and because of this, it absolutely tore me apart. Based on a true story - Lale uses his education and knowledge of languages to get himself a job as the Tatowierer after each Jewish family must volunteer one young male for 'work'.
This 'work' turns out to be the concentration camps on Auschwitz and Birkenau. We witness first hand the atrocities Lale sees happen, and also the cruelty and torture he endures at the hands of the Nazi's.
Despite knowing this was a 'memoir' of sorts, and that Lale would eventually escape, I was still terrified when reading this. Books like this need to be published and read, as I think that despite everyone knowing what the Holocaust was, I think people might be in danger of forgetting just how truly horrifying it was, and the lowest depths of humanity. Not everyday was filled with violence, some days nothing happened at all - and the prisoners whiled away the days, too starved or beaten to really do anything.
Non-fiction books aren't always designed to be enthralling, and for me this story's purpose was more for education and the sharing of someone's past, rather than to simply entertain the reader. I've seen a few reviews commenting on the writing style, how it is written quite factually rather than emotionally, and to be honest I do agree. It is written more as a timeline, than a novel. But I understand it was done this way because it is the couple's story to tell; I just would have preferred more detail in other places.
He just turned up at the train station and she just got off?! Is that actually how easily it happened? I would have liked to have seen a bit more of his research into how he knew she would be there? Or was it literally just fate? Politics and religion both.
This is a historical fiction novel based on a true story. Lale Sokolov tells his story based on true events. He became the main tattooist of Aushwitz and falls in love at first sight with Gita who he first met tattooing her arm. He tattoos all the new prisoners with their identification numbers. Lale is a Jew. He is on the first transport of men from Slovakia to Auschwitz in The concentration camp was very horrifying.
Lale did have some special privileges, since he was the tatto 4. Lale did have some special privileges, since he was the tattoist. He had lots of freedom than the other prisoners. He was so brave and had lots of courage. He would exchange jewels and money from murdered Jews for food to keep others alive.
If he was caught he would of been killed. Many prisoners owed him their survival. He was a leader among the other prisoners. Their are some graphic scenes that are a little dark. This book stands out from other Holocaust related novels. It is an emotional read. The Nazi guards are monsters, they kill and hurt human beings. Lale was determined to survive. This is a terrible story but it also is a story of hope and courage. I really did love this story. It was almost like reading a memoir, but a little different than a memoir.
This story is an emotional read, but I also found it uplifting at times. The Holocaust was horrific and couldn't believe all the awful things that happened in the concentration camp.
I would say this is a safer read than other Holocaust novels. I really loved Lale's true story. I am so happy that the author spent a lot of time with him, to tell his story. She really did an amazing job on his character. All the characters were very well done and made this novel come alive.
I loved the love story between Lale and Gita and how they fall in love at first sight. I love a romance in a novel only when there is lots of suspense. Its always the suspense that I am looking for and this one has ok plenty of it. I felt so sad for Cilka, and everything she went through.
I also felt sad for Leon. There are some scenes that are graphic but this is the Holocaust, a horrifying time and as I mentioned before this is a safer read than other Holocaust books. I could not put this book down. It was a page turner. I loved the writing style. I am really loving historical novels more and more because I think they are needed because we need to remember what happened so that history isn't forgotten.
This was a Traveling Sister read and I loved reading this with them and it was a wonderful discussion. This is a great book to do as a group read. I want to thank Netgalley, the publisher and Heather Morris for a copy of this book in exchange for a honest review. View all 71 comments. The German government needed workers for their labor camps.
In , all families in Slovakia were ordered to provide a child eighteen or older for work detail or risk having the entire family sent to concentration camp. Lale Sokolov hoped that by going to Prague to await these instructions his family would be safe.
He did not expect to be forced into a cattle wagon and be transported to Auschwitz. He was determined to do as he was told, reveal little about himself and always be observant. Lale's The German government needed workers for their labor camps. Lale's upbeat manner as well as deference to his capo helped him secure the job of "Tetovierer", the tattooist.
Rules: Look down. Be quick and efficiently tattoo the five numbers written on each person's piece of paper. In order to survive, he had to defile innocent people.
The job of "Tetovierer" did have some perks. Lale was given his own room and increased food rations which he hid under his sleeve to distribute to others when possible.
One day, Lale saw a girl with the darkest brown eyes. He made a vow to himself. He will leave Auschwitz a free man. He has just met the love of his life!
Through cunning, luck and love, Lale is instrumental in setting up a barter system with paid bricklayers, Victor and Yuri. Food and medicine are exchanged for gems and currency smuggled out of the "Canada" building where some of Gita's friends work to empty the pockets of clothing from new arrivals at Auschwitz. Diamonds and chocolate entice an occasional guard or capo as well. The chilling accounts of total disregard for life are occasionally tempered by selfless goodness and sacrifice without which Lale and Gita's love story could not have been told.
This slim tome documents less familiar aspects of Holocaust literature. A must read. View all 49 comments. Reading this book is literally like reading a set of bullet points.
The book is heavy on dialogue not terribly well written either with little description in between. The author thanks the real Lale Sokolov for allowing her to write his story, but I wish to god somebody else had written it instead.
This is an incredibly emotive topic and I found myself not giving a damn about the fate any of the characters and that in itself is very sad considering the setting of the story. View all 6 comments.
View all 11 comments. Incapable of being apprehended by the mind of the senses. Stories that need to be told This one sat for many years - decades - untold Shame - love - guilt - survival - Love Sad - Beautiful- powerful - emotional - honest reviews. View all 35 comments. This is an incredible book with a story that demands to be heard. The year is and it gladdens me that books like this are still being written. Because we need to know and understand what humanity is capable of, we need to know what extreme hate looks like so we can work towards building a world free from it.
This is one of our darkest hours, and we need to remember it. This This is an incredible book with a story that demands to be heard.
This is a true story. The characters were real people. They were plucked from the mind of a dying old man who is also the protagonist who wanted his story to be heard by the world. It took him over seventy years to muster the courage to tell it, Morris is the instrument of his words.
We all know about Auschwitz, though there is something intimate about this particular story. He wonders if for the rest of his life, be it short or long, he will be defined by this moment, this irregular number: He was given a position of trust and was able to move around the camps at will.
As such he smuggled in extra food rations for those that needed it most. He brought them medicine and aid whenever he could, consolation for living apart from those that suffered the most. The narrative was incredibly tense because death was never far away. Death came randomly. There was no system, just merciless killing at the whim of the oppressors. Doctor Mendel Doctor Death was the best example. He was an evil man, cold and fear inducing. Whenever he entered a scene the trepidation of the characters was palpable.
Morris did wonders to capture the presence of such a callous man. With all darkness, there comes light. In the depths of the death camp there is also life, love and family: three things we all need to stay alive. Despite how cruelly the Jews were treated, despite how far they were objectified and made to feel less than human, they still managed to cling onto their identities and the very things that make them who they are. Hope endured for some, hope that they would some day be liberated and have the opportunity to begin a new life.
He never looses his optimism. He never stops trying to help people. Blog Twitter Facebook Insta Academia View all 8 comments. It gives an in-depth perspective of the lives during that time.
The story is narrated in an interesting way, but it feels 'incomplete' and not covered well enough. The book tells the story of how Slovak "If you wake up in the morning, it's a good day. The book tells the story of how Slovakian Jew Lale Sokolov, who was imprisoned at Auschwitz in , fell in love with a girl he was tattooing at the concentration camp.
View all 5 comments. At first Lale is working on a roof, and this is what he does for a while until his kapo says he needs a boy to do his bidding, run errands, bring him food and the like. He meets Gita, whom he only knows by the number he tattooed to her arm, no words exchanged of course. A slip of paper with the number that was to be permanently marked on her skin were the only words that accompanied her. Eventually, he manages to introduce himself through channels and messages passed.
Eventually an infatuation turns to love. Impotent rage, horror, fear, sympathy and an overwhelming sense of powerlessness engulf him, not only for him, but for all those prisoners subjected to the torture, abuse, humiliation.
They merely remind him of the chasm between what life can be and what it is now. A group of us went there together, even the memory it still makes it hard for me to breathe. Photographs of the conditions, of how it appeared for those who were held captive — not so much living, but barely existing there. That these people are more than just numbers to be totaled, they are people who loved, who were loved and had hopes and dreams. My deepest respect goes to the author for having the compassion and emotional stamina to hear these stories directly from Lale Sokolov, and bring these stories to us in such a truly lovely ode to love and the will to survive.
They were just chosen innocent victims did what they had to so they could stand against the monsters hid inside human furs and at the end they fought back with their tears, endurance, wit, belief and they won against the vicious, vulgar, savage hand life dealt to them. This book shakes you more than you expected, making you question humanity, love, life, shameful part of the story that we never forget. This remarkable book is always going to be one of my all-time favorites.
View all 12 comments. Reviewing a novel about the Holocaust on Holocaust Remembrance day seems both apropos, and a great responsibility. Never forget! As long as there are people who need to tell! Their stories, I will continue to read and remember. This is a fictionalized account of a true story, told to the author in the final days of his life.
Lale was a young Jewish man from Slovakia, with much to look forward to, when in an effort to save the rest of his family, he is taken to Auschwitz. There he will become the Reviewing a novel about the Holocaust on Holocaust Remembrance day seems both apropos, and a great responsibility. There he will become the tattooist, the man who tattoos those horrendous numbers on the prisoners arms. A prestigious job in the camp that gives him priviledges many don't have, also a certain freedom.
How he uses this freedom is a big part of the story. A story with many horrors terrors and yes even love. I dislike rating these stories. I always feel like I am rating, in this case, a man's life, passing judgement on his horrifying experiences. They were, but this young man was fortunate, not a good word to use obviously, in many instances that found others either shot or beaten to death. He had a sunny personality and vowed to survive the camp, maybe the reason the tone of this was more light than many others of the camps that I have read.
Maybe this is the story he needed to remember to survive, only he can know that. The writing is less emotional than some, a kind of storytelling tone, which I guess makes sense as the author was telling a story. For me though, often times, I felt an emotional disconnect.
It is though, impossible not to like Lale, he indeed uses his position, well. We meet other important characters, the young woman who he would come to love, her friends. Some of the guards, and all play their parts in this story. I do love how at the end of the book the author lets the reader know what happened to some of the main people in this novel. One young women's fate I found particularly unfair. Sure, you may be good at tattooing and now you want to tattoo and make money This is where this guide comes into play.
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