The Tatooist of Auschwitz

 

The Tattooist of Auschwitz by Heather Morris

     Even when we think we’ve heard enough we will never be free of the stories of the Holocaust and we shouldn’t be.  As long as there is ink and paper the stories need to be told because there is always one we haven’t heard. 

     The Tattooist of Auschwitz was one of those for me.  This is a true story of Lale and Gita Sokolov.  Lale was lucky enough, as if there is anything else but luck that keeps a person alive in Auschwitz, to be singled out to ink a new identity onto the arms of the Jews chosen to live.  This job gave him certain freedoms that surprised me. 

     One of the people standing before Lale was Gita, a trembling young woman who Lale was immediately smitten with.  In his role with his freedoms Lale is determined to keep Gita alive by bartering for food and medicines with  money and jewels taken from Jews who didn’t survive, who were immediately executed and incinerated.  It’s a dangerous role and he is all too aware he might be executed on the spot when found out.  

     Somehow both Lale and Gita survive –  this isn’t a spoiler,  this is a true story and so we know at the outset they survive but it’s in the how that keeps us riveted and shaking our heads in amazement at the courage, the determination to survive and the love these two have for each other.    I can only imagine a person could only survive if there was cunning and courage and caring involved. 

     Eventually, Lale and Gita emigrate to Australia where they raise and son and like many survivors, remain silent about what they endured and conquered.  But once Gita dies in old age, Lale feels their story should be told because we need to listen.