Review; The Tattooist of Auschwitz by Heather Morris
Description from Goodreads
In April 1942, Lale Sokolov, a Slovakian Jew, is forcibly transported to the concentration camps at Auschwitz-Birkenau. When his captors discover that he speaks several languages, he is put to work as a Tätowierer (the German word for tattooist), tasked with permanently marking his fellow prisoners.
Imprisoned for more than two and a half years, Lale witnesses horrific atrocities and barbarism—but also incredible acts of bravery and compassion. Risking his own life, he uses his privileged position to exchange jewels and money from murdered Jews for food to keep his fellow prisoners alive.
One day in July 1942, Lale, prisoner 32407, comforts a trembling young woman waiting in line to have the number 34902 tattooed onto her arm. Her name is Gita, and in that first encounter, Lale vows to somehow survive the camp and marry her.
A vivid, harrowing, and ultimately hopeful re-creation of Lale Sokolov's experiences as the man who tattooed the arms of thousands of prisoners with what would become one of the most potent symbols of the Holocaust, The Tattooist of Auschwitz is also a testament to the endurance of love and humanity under the darkest possible conditions.
My Thoughts on the Book
The Tattooist of Auschwitz is one of those books that needs to be read due to the topic of the book, especially as it's a fictionalized version of Lale and Gita's true story. The sad thing is that, even though I found the book intriguing, it was noticeable that the author is a screenwriter and not a novelist. If the author had been better at writing prose, the novel would have had a better quality to it. It's a bit of a shame that such an amazing story would be a bit tainted by less-than-amazing writing quality. I suspect that if James Holland had written this novel, the prose would have been A LOT better.
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