Tattooist of Auschwitz: A Review

Audrey Whalen, Reporter

The “Tattooist of Auschwitz” is a historical fiction book in which Lale Sokolov  is transported to a concentration camp, Auschwitz. When the Nazi’s discovered Lale could speak multiple languages he was put to work permanently marking his fellow prisoners.

Lale, imprisoned for over two and a half years, 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.

This book takes readers through what it was like in the concentration camps, but it pulls the audience in with the tragic love story. Lale and Gita pull one into their troubles and it really makes you root for the characters to end up together in the end.

Heather Morris, author of “Tattooist of Auschwitz”, is discussing turning this novel into a movie. 

This is a need-to-read novel, and would be an amazing movie; the history and love story behind it would draw in lots of other viewers who would not usually pick up this type of book.