Book Review: The Tattooist of Auschwitz

The Tattooist of Auschwitz by Heather Morris

My rating: 5 of 5 stars

I have read a lot of WWII fiction. Both based on true story and purely fictional. In all the books I've read, The Tattooist of Auschwitz is, by far, the most harrowing, beautiful, desperate and lovely true story of them all. Unlike most WWII historical books, this one starts at Auschwitz, instead of ending there. The build-up to the war is a paragraph and instead the core story here is surviving and enduring a concentration camp. Over four years time we learn the story of Lale and those he encounters. Lale is a Slovakian Jew who finds his 'place' in the camp as the tattooist. This is a story that is so unbelievable; that were it not right from one man's truth it might be deemed impossible.

The Numbers
The significance of being demoted to a number cannot be understated here. A person is only really a person with a name, identity and story. Reducing a human to a number is just incorrigible, in so many ways. The real-life Lale, who told his story to author Heather Morris over three years time, was terrified that he would be seen as a Nazi sympathizer. Someone who abet the murder of hundreds of thousands of innocent men, women and children. Let me assure you, after reading The Tattooist of Auschwitz I don't think anyone could possibly think, for even a moment, that Lale was a part of the problem. His work, to scar humans with a number, was merely a means to an end, a way to stay alive. Bearing his own number all his life, he knew what it was like to be a number at many different moments and so I do not believe that it's possible for him to be considered in any way allied or aligned with the activities at either camp he was involved with. .

The Horror Amongst the Hope
I personally cannot possibly imagine keeping hope in conditions such as those in Nazi concentration camps. Be they in Poland, Germany or elsewhere. These were places of utter and complete desolation. Where people were made to move rocks all day long, only to move them back to the same spot the following day. No 'work' was 'fruitful' in these camps; except that doing some work kept you alive for another day of starvation and torture.
What is truly special about Lale and Gita's story is that somehow, someway they found slivers of hope. A desire, love and drive to stay alive. It takes truly resilient people to keep even a thread of hope when faced with starvation, torture, rape and death every moment of everyday. However, it is clear in Lale's story that there was some luck involved too. This is perhaps one of the most interesting things about this true story. How do you survive four years in Auschwitz and live to tell the story years later? A lot of strength of body and mind; and some four-leaf clover luck.

All Range of Emotions
I think I went through all of the possible emotions that exist in the mere hours it took me to devour Morris' novel. From utter hatred to all-encompassing love, despair to hope, fierce anger to desperate grief; there is not a single moment in this book that you won't feel something. Even if it's a moment of utter and complete nothing. Something Morris' captures in a way most other writers cannot is the way it may feel to feel nothing. You might think, why on earth would you want this or experience this? In extreme situations humans often shut-down to feel nothing. It's a difficult thing to understand if you have never experienced it; but something that is absolutely truthful in horrifying conditions like those lived by the captives in camps and Morris' captures all of these feelings good, bad and otherwise.

Overall
No words I could ever write will do justice to the importance or incredibility of this novel. It's such an insane story that you couldn't make it up. Honest. Lale's decision, in the last years of his life, to tell this story is probably his biggest contribution to the world; and this is a man who certainly saved dozens (if not hundreds) of people's lives at any given time through his compassion, generosity and willingness to do what he could when he could. This is the key reason, in my mind, why you could never say those like Lale are at fault for working inside the unreasonable and terrifying parameters given to them by the SS soldiers at these camps.
Most important is that Lale's story can now be told to others and provide hope in bleak times. While not everyone is as lucky as Gita and Lale were; it's nice to know that out of the most horrifying time in recent history a love and devotion could blossom.

For this and more of my reviews please visit my blog at: Epic Reading

Please note: I received an eARC of this book from the publisher via NetGalley. This is an honest and unbiased review.

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