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The Tattooist of Auschwitz: Now a major Sky TV series Paperback – 4 Oct. 2018
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I tattooed a number on her arm. She tattooed her name on my heart.
In 1942, Lale Sokolov arrived in Auschwitz-Birkenau. He was given the job of tattooing the prisoners marked for survival - scratching numbers into his fellow victims' arms in indelible ink to create what would become one of the most potent symbols of the Holocaust.
Waiting in line to be tattooed, terrified and shaking, was a young girl. For Lale - a dandy, a jack-the-lad, a bit of a chancer - it was love at first sight. And he was determined not only to survive himself, but to ensure this woman, Gita, did, too.
So begins one of the most life-affirming, courageous, unforgettable and human stories of the Holocaust: the love story of the tattooist of Auschwitz.
Discover the incredible bestselling The Tattooist of Aushwitz trilogy, with Cilka's Journey and Three Sisters also available now.
Sisters under the Rising Sun, Heather Morris's exceptional new novel, based on a true story of women in Japanese prison of war camps is available in hardback now.
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'Extraordinary - moving, confronting and uplifting . . . I recommend it unreservedly' Graeme Simsion
'A moving and ultimately uplifting story of love, loyalties and friendship amidst the horrors of war . . . It's a triumph.' Jill Mansell
______
The Tattooist of Auschwitz is a #3 Sunday Times bestseller from 5 May 2024
- Print length352 pages
- LanguageEnglish
- PublisherZaffre
- Publication date4 Oct. 2018
- Dimensions12.9 x 2.1 x 19.8 cm
- ISBN-101785763679
- ISBN-13978-1785763670
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- How can a race that is spread out across multiple countries be considered a threat? For as long as he lives, be it short or long, he knows he will never comprehend this.Highlighted by 3,210 Kindle readers
- “And that makes her a hero. You’re a hero, too, my darling. That the two of you have chosen to survive is a type of resistance to these Nazi bastards. Choosing to live is an act of defiance, a form of heroism.”Highlighted by 2,736 Kindle readers
- “To save one is to save the world,” Lale completes the phrase. The men sink into silence for a while.Highlighted by 811 Kindle readers
From the Publisher
The Tattooist of Auschwitz | Cilka's Journey | Three Sisters | Sisters under the Rising Sun | |
---|---|---|---|---|
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4.6 out of 5 stars
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Product description
Review
What an extraordinary and important book this is. We need as many memories of the Holocaust as we can retain, and this is a moving and ultimately uplifting story of love, loyalties and friendship amidst the horrors of war. I'm so glad Lale and Gita were eventually able to live long and happy lives together, and thankful that Heather Morris was moved to record their incredible story. It's a triumph ― Jill Mansell
Extraordinary - moving, confronting and uplifting . . . a story about the extremes of human behaviour: calculated brutality alongside impulsive and selfless acts of love. I recommend it unreservedly' ― Graeme Simsion, author of The Rosie Project
Based on the true story of Lale Sokolov, who is forced to tattoo numbers on his fellow concentration camp detainees' arms. ― The Bookseller
Nothing that I could possibly write here would be eloquent enough to convey to you how powerful and moving this book was. I could go on for pages telling you how well this is written, nothing is overdramatized...she just tell this tale that is at its bare bones a love story. I cried entire buckets of tears. Finally I will use the words of Lale "If you wake up in the morning, it is a good day" that it is. That it is ― Netgalley Reviewer
Book Description
About the Author
Product details
- Publisher : Zaffre (4 Oct. 2018)
- Language : English
- Paperback : 352 pages
- ISBN-10 : 1785763679
- ISBN-13 : 978-1785763670
- Dimensions : 12.9 x 2.1 x 19.8 cm
- Best Sellers Rank: 30 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- 2 in Jewish Fiction
- 5 in Military Romance (Books)
- 5 in War Story Fiction
- Customer reviews:
About the author
Heather Morris is a native of New Zealand, now resident in Australia. For several years, while working in a large public hospital in Melbourne, she studied and wrote screenplays, one of which was optioned by an Academy Award-winning screenwriter in the US. In 2003, Heather was introduced to an elderly gentleman who ‘might just have a story worth telling’. The day she met Lale Sokolov changed both their lives. Their friendship grew and Lale embarked on a journey of self-scrutiny, entrusting the innermost details of his life during the Holocaust to her. Heather 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.
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“So many stories. So many brave people.”
This is one of those books that you can’t simply read, it reaches in and grabs your soul and immerses you completely. Holocaust books are never easy reads, and they shouldn’t be, but it is a time in our history we should educate ourselves about and learn from. I find myself fascinated with the question of how people can commit such atrocities against other human beings in the name of faith or any kind of beliefs, but never any closer to figuring out the answer.
“I am a survivor.”
Lale is just 24 years old when the Germans order each Jewish family in his village to send a member of their family aged 18 or over to work for them. His older brother volunteers, but Lale insists he should be the one to go as, unlike his brother, he has no wife or children. Despite obvious apprehension at where he will go and what will happen, Lale is pleased that his actions will be saving his family from being sent to a prison camp and keeping them safe.
When he first arrives at Auschwitz-Birkenau he is put to work building more huts but notices that there are some prisoners with privileges and vows to get one of the positions that will offer him the greatest chance of survival. Shortly after he becomes acquainted with Pepan, the Tätowierer, who offers him a job as his apprentice. His new position offers protection and benefits such as a bed to himself and more food to eat. Showing his generous nature, Lale immediately shares his extra rations with other prisoners. Later he begins to smuggle in food and other items, at huge risk to himself, that he also shares. When reading about these kindnesses I couldn’t help but wonder how many lives he saved. How many people and their parents are alive today because he saved their grandparent in the camp? Lale may have had regrets about the job he was forced to do to survive but it can’t be denied how much good he did that wasn’t obligated to. I myself think taking the job was the right thing. Yes, he could be viewed as conspiring with the enemy, but someone had to do the job and he made sure to use his position to benefit many others. I empathise with the prisoners who took jobs to gain extra rations or a better position in the camp. They were fighting for survival every second of the day and I blame no one who found a way to make that fight a little easier.
“I am in shit but won’t drown, my life is too beautiful to die.”
Lale’s positive outlook is apparent from the start of the story. He chooses to look for the good and for beauty in any and every circumstance. I am sure that choosing to keep his positivity despite being in such a frightening and dire situation helped him to survive and enabled him to encourage others to do the same. One thing that no doubt helped him see a brighter side to life during his time in the camp was meeting and falling in love with Gita. This story of how these two ordinary people found love and hope in the darkest of places was beautiful and shows us how if a love is true absolutely nothing can stand in its way. The couple share clandestine meetings as much as possible while in the camp and vow to marry and live their lives together once they are free.
“If you wake up in the morning, it’s a good day.”
I would have liked to hear more about Lale’s life after the war than was included in the book, but we do find out a little about his life after the war, his struggles and triumphs, and what he was like as a parent in a small Afterward from his son. The Authors Notes were a wonderful insight into how she came to tell his story and the man he was. It was interesting to see the pictures of him and some of the historical pictures relevant to his time in the camp. I think they were a great way to end the book and gave the reader a greater connection to Lale.
“The Tattooist of Auschwitz is a story of two ordinary people, living in an extraordinary time.”
This is a story full of opposing things: humanity and inhumanity, love and hate, and hope and despair. It is a reminder of the horrors people experienced, but also of their ferocious will to survive and how they found happiness, friendship, and sometimes even love, during the most barbaric and odious circumstances. It is important we are reminded of the stories of individuals as hearing the huge numbers makes it impersonal and incomprehensible. When we hear Lale’s story we can picture what he and those he knew suffered we relate to it in a real way that helps us ensure it never happens again. The Tattooist of Auschwitz is a mesmerising, poignant, haunting, powerful, harrowing and beautiful novel. I can’t recommend it highly enough.
“To save one, is to save the world.”
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 24 November 2018
“So many stories. So many brave people.”
This is one of those books that you can’t simply read, it reaches in and grabs your soul and immerses you completely. Holocaust books are never easy reads, and they shouldn’t be, but it is a time in our history we should educate ourselves about and learn from. I find myself fascinated with the question of how people can commit such atrocities against other human beings in the name of faith or any kind of beliefs, but never any closer to figuring out the answer.
“I am a survivor.”
Lale is just 24 years old when the Germans order each Jewish family in his village to send a member of their family aged 18 or over to work for them. His older brother volunteers, but Lale insists he should be the one to go as, unlike his brother, he has no wife or children. Despite obvious apprehension at where he will go and what will happen, Lale is pleased that his actions will be saving his family from being sent to a prison camp and keeping them safe.
When he first arrives at Auschwitz-Birkenau he is put to work building more huts but notices that there are some prisoners with privileges and vows to get one of the positions that will offer him the greatest chance of survival. Shortly after he becomes acquainted with Pepan, the Tätowierer, who offers him a job as his apprentice. His new position offers protection and benefits such as a bed to himself and more food to eat. Showing his generous nature, Lale immediately shares his extra rations with other prisoners. Later he begins to smuggle in food and other items, at huge risk to himself, that he also shares. When reading about these kindnesses I couldn’t help but wonder how many lives he saved. How many people and their parents are alive today because he saved their grandparent in the camp? Lale may have had regrets about the job he was forced to do to survive but it can’t be denied how much good he did that wasn’t obligated to. I myself think taking the job was the right thing. Yes, he could be viewed as conspiring with the enemy, but someone had to do the job and he made sure to use his position to benefit many others. I empathise with the prisoners who took jobs to gain extra rations or a better position in the camp. They were fighting for survival every second of the day and I blame no one who found a way to make that fight a little easier.
“I am in shit but won’t drown, my life is too beautiful to die.”
Lale’s positive outlook is apparent from the start of the story. He chooses to look for the good and for beauty in any and every circumstance. I am sure that choosing to keep his positivity despite being in such a frightening and dire situation helped him to survive and enabled him to encourage others to do the same. One thing that no doubt helped him see a brighter side to life during his time in the camp was meeting and falling in love with Gita. This story of how these two ordinary people found love and hope in the darkest of places was beautiful and shows us how if a love is true absolutely nothing can stand in its way. The couple share clandestine meetings as much as possible while in the camp and vow to marry and live their lives together once they are free.
“If you wake up in the morning, it’s a good day.”
I would have liked to hear more about Lale’s life after the war than was included in the book, but we do find out a little about his life after the war, his struggles and triumphs, and what he was like as a parent in a small Afterward from his son. The Authors Notes were a wonderful insight into how she came to tell his story and the man he was. It was interesting to see the pictures of him and some of the historical pictures relevant to his time in the camp. I think they were a great way to end the book and gave the reader a greater connection to Lale.
“The Tattooist of Auschwitz is a story of two ordinary people, living in an extraordinary time.”
This is a story full of opposing things: humanity and inhumanity, love and hate, and hope and despair. It is a reminder of the horrors people experienced, but also of their ferocious will to survive and how they found happiness, friendship, and sometimes even love, during the most barbaric and odious circumstances. It is important we are reminded of the stories of individuals as hearing the huge numbers makes it impersonal and incomprehensible. When we hear Lale’s story we can picture what he and those he knew suffered we relate to it in a real way that helps us ensure it never happens again. The Tattooist of Auschwitz is a mesmerising, poignant, haunting, powerful, harrowing and beautiful novel. I can’t recommend it highly enough.
“To save one, is to save the world.”
In 1942, Germany makes an empty promise to Jewish families in Slovakia: volunteer the labour of one able-bodied, young male and the rest of the family will be safe. Twenty-six-year-old Lale volunteers and finds himself on a cattle truck heading for the concentration camps at Auschwitz-Birkenau. After a brief stint in construction, his linguistic skills are recognised and he is promoted to ‘Tätowierer’.
Daily arrivals from German-occupied Europe are sorted. Those deemed fit enough to work are tattooed and permitted to live a bit longer. Lale’s adoration of fellow Slovakian, Gita Furman, begins as he tattoos a number on her arm. A romance ensues and he promises that they will survive the camps and be together…
The extent to which a person will go to survive is stretched horrifically here. But survival is not just about self-preservation; risks and sacrifices are also made for the benefit of others. Amidst the torture and humiliation, we see hope, love, resilience, courage and great dignity. Life in the camps is testament to what the human body and mind can endure.
Details of the violence are restrained and the gore omitted. This has the advantage of widening the readership to younger adults. Though, at the same time, it does leave Heather open to the criticism that her portrayal of the depravity and horror in the camps is over-sanitised.
It’s easy to feel disgust and anger towards the Germans, particularly Sadistic SS doctor, Josef Mengele, because of their actions. Connecting with the prisoners, even Lale and Gita, isn’t as easy, as the exploration of their emotions is limited. I appreciate that Heather wanted to stay faithful to Lale’s account of events, but she could have allowed herself more artistic license.
The author’s notes and the photographs of Lale and Gita add a great deal to the book. Heather’s respect for Lale and her dedication to telling his story is quite touching. There are no distracting ‘poetic’ passages; Heather communicates what she has to say simply and maintains a fast pace throughout her writing.
I would recommend to anybody with the slightest interest in historical fiction or love stories to read this novel. If I came away with anything, it was the gratitude that I’ll never understand what the prisoners at Auschwitz-Birkenau went through.
"If you wake up in the morning, it's a good day."
~ Lale Sokolov
Top reviews from other countries
Why is the world so full of evil people to treat fellow mankind with such inhuman cruelty and think they can get away with it!?
..opens your eyes!....
Ich bin stolz darauf, dieses Buch gelesen zu haben. Und ich bin traurig darüber, dass wir als Menschen auch weiterhin nicht verstanden haben, wie schmerzhaft Dogmatismus sein kann.