Book Review: The Tattooist Of Auschwitz

Author: Heather Morris
Publisher: Harper Paperbacks 2018
# of Pages: 272
Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ (I’d give it even more if I could!)

I am fascinated by books based on the war, daily lives and hardships of people, particularly in Germany. So when this book came out it appealed to me. I heard and read a range of great reviews and then was very lucky to receive it as a gift for Christmas.

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.

This book had me hooked from the very first page and I just couldn’t put it down and I had it finished within a day or so! It was a heartfelt tale of love born in the darkest of times, inspired by the astonishing true story of Lale Sokolov. As remarkable as it is life-affirming.

“Remember the small things, and the big things will work themselves out.”

“To save one is to save the world.”