Wow.
Wow.
Wow.
This book is. Just.
Wow.
The Tattooist of Auschwitz is based on the true story of Holocaust survivors Lale and Gita Sokolov who met and fell in love in the infamous concentration camp. “I tattooed her number on her left hand, and she tattooed her number in my heart,” Lale reminisced in an interview with author Heather Morris.
While I write this review in the middle of a global pandemic, I am reminded that I am beyond lucky to be safely quarantined with my loved ones in my comfortable home. I have food, water, and many other luxuries that make it unbelievably silly to complain about my “struggles” during this time. In The Tattooist of Aushwitz, a beautiful love story glimmers in the depth of horrors experienced at the hands of Nazi soldiers. One cannot finish this book unmoved.
“In a field between the two campus of Aushwitz and Birkenau, they are made to carry large rocks from one side to the other. When the rocks have all been moved over, they are told to take them back again. And so the day goes on… He quickly works out that the SS shoot the last one to arrive with his rock.”
While the young couple are punished and tortured, again and again their love pulls them through. This book will make you cry tears of rage, despair, and ultimately joy and gratitude. The strength of the human spirit is immeasurable, and Lale and Gita are proof that love truly can conquer all.