Author: Heather Morris
Plot Review: The Tattooist of Auschwitz is a story of the Holocaust survivor Lale Sokolov and a girl Gita, whom he falls in love with, in the concentration camps of Auschwitz and Birkenau. Lale is a Tattooist in the concentration camp. His job is to tattoo all the incoming prisoners in blood with a number and diminish their identity.
In two and a half years of his tenure, Lale befriends several Jews and Germans alike, witnesses horrendous crimes and somehow miraculously escapes being a victim himself time and again.
Being a tattooist, Lale has certain coveted privileges which are not given to other Jews. The Germans do not shoot him like a fly as they know he has an indispensable job to do. Lale can walk freely across different blocks of the concentration camps and also in and out of the camps between Auschwitz and Birkenau. He is also allowed to go outside the gates of the camps.
As we all know, Jews were the workers in the camps. They were made to collect the belongings and later, the dead bodies of other Jews. The valuable belongings of the Jews which included precious gemstones were set aside to be a part of the German treasury. Then, they were massacred in masses by the poisonous gas or shot, in large numbers.
Lale falls in love with another prisoner, Gita, and dreams of marrying her someday. The book is about his hope, his aspirations and his determination to find his love and his identity back amidst circumstances which could be described to be the worst acts of humanity the world had ever witnessed.
The book is very fast paced and is written in a very simple language. As any world war II book, it is also hard hitting at places. Not for the first time, we mutter curses under our breath. And ponder over the same question again, "How did the world let the brutal massacre happen?".
Having said that, I must admit that this book did not succeed in touching me as the other world war II books. There are many places where I felt Lale was promoting himself more like a super-hero than a Jewish prisoner.
Lale had convoys stealing valuables from the Germans and trading them back for food, even chocolate from outside the gates. This food, he distributes among all the Jews in the camp. In short, he is the "Robinhood" of Auschwitz. Auschwitz- the living hell of Earth, where Jews were tossed like flies and burnt to ashes. In such a camp, one man takes risks on a daily basis. Accepted. Then he gets caught not once but twice and still does not get punished. And he continues taking risks again. It is hard to believe that the Germans would not have sniffed such thefts happening right under their nose.
There is one incident where the Germans invite the prisoners for a soccer match. I was expecting that they will have all the Jewish team stand in line and shoot them one after another after the match in front of the audience. But our man, Lale, somehow emerges a super-hero, there too.
It is true that Lale is a Holocaust survivor and lived post-world-war II to tell his story. It might also be true that considering that he was working for the Germans, he must have enjoyed certain privileges. But was he "the chosen one" and the Robinhood he claims himself to be, is hard to believe !!
Somewhere in the last pages of the book, after he is out of the camp, Lale admits "Nothing can be gained by telling the true nature of the treatment of prisoners there. So he tells them what he did there and how much he preferred to work than to sit around". And I think that statement summarizes the book for you.
Recommended : 👍👍
Plot Review: The Tattooist of Auschwitz is a story of the Holocaust survivor Lale Sokolov and a girl Gita, whom he falls in love with, in the concentration camps of Auschwitz and Birkenau. Lale is a Tattooist in the concentration camp. His job is to tattoo all the incoming prisoners in blood with a number and diminish their identity.
In two and a half years of his tenure, Lale befriends several Jews and Germans alike, witnesses horrendous crimes and somehow miraculously escapes being a victim himself time and again.
Being a tattooist, Lale has certain coveted privileges which are not given to other Jews. The Germans do not shoot him like a fly as they know he has an indispensable job to do. Lale can walk freely across different blocks of the concentration camps and also in and out of the camps between Auschwitz and Birkenau. He is also allowed to go outside the gates of the camps.
As we all know, Jews were the workers in the camps. They were made to collect the belongings and later, the dead bodies of other Jews. The valuable belongings of the Jews which included precious gemstones were set aside to be a part of the German treasury. Then, they were massacred in masses by the poisonous gas or shot, in large numbers.
Lale falls in love with another prisoner, Gita, and dreams of marrying her someday. The book is about his hope, his aspirations and his determination to find his love and his identity back amidst circumstances which could be described to be the worst acts of humanity the world had ever witnessed.
The book is very fast paced and is written in a very simple language. As any world war II book, it is also hard hitting at places. Not for the first time, we mutter curses under our breath. And ponder over the same question again, "How did the world let the brutal massacre happen?".
Having said that, I must admit that this book did not succeed in touching me as the other world war II books. There are many places where I felt Lale was promoting himself more like a super-hero than a Jewish prisoner.
Lale had convoys stealing valuables from the Germans and trading them back for food, even chocolate from outside the gates. This food, he distributes among all the Jews in the camp. In short, he is the "Robinhood" of Auschwitz. Auschwitz- the living hell of Earth, where Jews were tossed like flies and burnt to ashes. In such a camp, one man takes risks on a daily basis. Accepted. Then he gets caught not once but twice and still does not get punished. And he continues taking risks again. It is hard to believe that the Germans would not have sniffed such thefts happening right under their nose.
There is one incident where the Germans invite the prisoners for a soccer match. I was expecting that they will have all the Jewish team stand in line and shoot them one after another after the match in front of the audience. But our man, Lale, somehow emerges a super-hero, there too.
It is true that Lale is a Holocaust survivor and lived post-world-war II to tell his story. It might also be true that considering that he was working for the Germans, he must have enjoyed certain privileges. But was he "the chosen one" and the Robinhood he claims himself to be, is hard to believe !!
Somewhere in the last pages of the book, after he is out of the camp, Lale admits "Nothing can be gained by telling the true nature of the treatment of prisoners there. So he tells them what he did there and how much he preferred to work than to sit around". And I think that statement summarizes the book for you.
Recommended : 👍👍
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