The Tattooist of Auschwitz by Heather Morris

Even after reading this book, it is difficult to imagine the horrors of Auschwitz, despite Morris’ depiction of Lale Sokolov’s first hand account of his time spent there. But, in this important book, we are presented with a man’s life lived in that most renowned concentration camp and how he chose to navigate its machine gun fire and its whimsical brutality to survive it and live his life beyond its walls with the woman that he loved, Gita.

This is not easy reading but I do feel that, despite its relating of Auschwitz’s horrors, it has been watered down. It is presented as a novel in that there is no authorial discussion of Lale’s life, like there was by Laura Hillenbrand in Unbroken of Louis Zamperini, and as a result, the way that it has been told is with a detached air, almost like an observer is watching and then relating what they see. It reads like a story that has been told to someone else who is transcribing it before releasing it into the world which is, of course, exactly what has happened; however, because of this, I don’t think that I was as involved in the reading of it as I could have been. It moved me but not to tears and yet, I have read other books about the Holocaust where I have sobbed.

That being said, there is no doubt that this is an important book. To have a first hand account of a survivor’s time in such a notorious place is rare – and no explanation is needed as to the reason why this is.

Lale is a likeable character, whose charm, luck and wile cause him to survive his experience. What is also clear is the humanity of the man and this is what I will keenly take away from his story – that despite the odds, he tried to spread a little light in a very, very dark place, whether this was through his generosity to others or his general demeanour, his contriteness to those to whom he administered a tattoo or in his love for Gita which drives him to endure: it is a warm story, for the most part.

Shadows are cast by loss and indiscriminate violence as well as the inclusion of infamous characters like Mengele but these are not the substance of the book.

Here, humanity and love win.