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The Tattooist of Auschwitz (The Tattooist of Auschwitz, #1)

Heather Morris

Start date: February 26, 2023

Finish date: March 20, 2023

Why we're reading this: The Tattooist of Auschwitz is East Side Book Discussion's March selection! This book club will be held in…more
[close] The Tattooist of Auschwitz is East Side Book Discussion's March selection! This book club will be held in person at East Side Library on Monday, 3/20 at 2:00 PM. Visit our website or call 515-283-4152 for more details.

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Oct 04, 2019 Karna Converse rated it it was ok

Shelves: book-club-selection

A sweet story about finding love and how it kept a young couple alive through three years of the horrors of the Auschwitz-Birkenau concentration camps.

Lale Sokolov told author Heather Morris he survived the Holocaust by "doing what he needed to do," but it's obvious the young women he met shortly after he assumed duties as The Tätowierer was also one of the reasons he survived. He fell in love with prisoner 34902 (Gita) the moment he tattooed the number unto her arm.

Morris's novel is based on L ...more

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Mar 07, 2019 Andy rated it did not like it · review of another edition

Shelves: not-worth-the-time

Update: The Auschwitz Memorial Research Centre and Lali and Gita’s son take issue with how situations are represented. This has made me alter my initial rating. Proceed with caution.

https://amp.theguardian.com/books/201...

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Once, when visiting my grandmother in Merrillville, Ind., in the late 1980s, we stopped at a Burger King near her home. The woman at the counter looked elderly, but she probably wasn't as old as my grandmother. As she was arranging our food on the plastic tray, I noticed Update: The Auschwitz Memorial Research Centre and Lali and Gita’s son take issue with how situations are represented. This has made me alter my initial rating. Proceed with caution.

https://amp.theguardian.com/books/201...

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Once, when visiting my grandmother in Merrillville, Ind., in the late 1980s, we stopped at a Burger King near her home. The woman at the counter looked elderly, but she probably wasn't as old as my grandmother. As she was arranging our food on the plastic tray, I noticed numbers tattooed on the inside of her forearm.

Once we took our seats, I asked why a grandma would have numbers tattooed on her arm. I was only in kindergarten and had no knowledge of the Holocaust. My grandmother, part of the Greatest Generation, tried as gently as she could to describe the forced branding of people -- how those numbers were a cataloging system -- and that many of the people given numbers during World War II were no longer alive. She ended it with, "I bet she has a story to tell."

When reading "The Tattooist of Auschwitz," I was reminded of this woman, who to my knowledge, is the only survivor of the Holocaust I've actually met in day-to-day life. I'd love to go back to that day, order a cup of coffee and have a conversation with her about her experiences, much like Morris did with Lali.

It is true that every survivor had a story, and sadly many were never told. It is for that reason I'm grateful for this book, even though it isn't the best.

I'm fascinated to learn how ordinary people survive extreme circumstances, but many of the most egregious moments are delivered in a matter-of-fact fashion that makes it hard to connect with the reality that was lived and how it is described. This is squarely on Morris, who clearly was enamored with Lali -- he is incredibly charming, after all -- and likely held herself back from digging deeper.

Another issue is the "based on a true story" component. Any first-person account of a situation will likely offer some revisionist history, so why add elements? I'd like to know what was inserted for heightened experience to propel the narrative versus what and when situations actually occurred.

Additionally, Morris' execution is stilted. Is it because this started as a screenplay or because it was based off interviews? There's little character development (except near the end) and some of the emotion feels forced. Maybe because Lali shared his story decades later, and he had time to digest the suffering he and millions of others endured, but overall there wasn't the rawness you often find in other memoirs.

This isn't "Night" or "Anne Frank: Diary of A Young Girl," and it lacks the detached objectiveness of "A River in Darkness," which made that story so effective. While I'm glad to have read Lali and Gita's story, I wouldn't put this high on a recommendation list. ...more

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Oct 16, 2019 Lisa rated it it was amazing

Shelves: own

I have been waiting a long time to get this book to the top of my to-read pile and it finally made it this week.

It is a fantastic story of a horrific time in our history. It tells the story of how one man, Lale, survives his time in the concentration camps. It is based on a true story, which makes it hit home in a way a made-up story about this same time in history can not.

I just saw today that there will be a book coming out about Cilka and her journey. I will put that on my list for sure!

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