A Review of the Book "The Tattooist of Auschwitz" by Heather Morris

Title: The Tattooist of Auschwitz
Author: Heather Morris
Publisher: HarperCollins Publishers
Year: 2018
254 pages

Anyone who knows me is aware of my interest in anything to do with the Shoah, or what is more commonly known as the Holocaust. It has always amazed me that people could do such horrific things to other human beings.

What has been extremely fascinating is discovering how many Jewish people were involved in day-to-day activities at the concentration camps. How do you help the very people who are killing your neighbours and kin?

"The Tattooist of Auschwitz" is the amazing story of Lale Sokolov, told from the perspective of a man who was taken from his home and forced to work for the Germans, tattooing fellow Jews who passed muster and were able to work in the labour camps.

Sokolov tells about how he was loaded onto a cattle car with dozens of other people, dressed up in a suit and tie in the hopes of making an impression on whomever was waiting for him at the other end of the line. Once he arrived, nothing was as he expected nor did his life go anything like he had hoped. In order to keep the rest of his family safe, he had to follow his orders and do everything he was told.

From an outsiders view, one can see how Sokolov's agreement to be the tattooist can be surprising, but really he was doing everything he could to save the lives of his family.

During the two and a half years spent imprisoned at Auschwitz, Sokolov saw unbelievable horrors and did his best to help his fellow inmates, putting his own life at risk. Somehow, through all of that, he even managed to fall in love, using that love to help him get through the worst of his days.

I can honestly say that after reading this book, I am incredibly amazed at how anyone could survive such conditions. I see now why some people did what they had to in order to survive and in order to protect their families.

Morris was able to wonderfully capture all of the emotions that were experienced by Sokolov and the others around him - confusion, pain, fear, defeat, and so much more. The story flowed very well but was hard to read in the sense that the reader will come away with a new, or perhaps deeper, understanding of the impact that Nazi Germany had on entire groups of people, especially on the millions of Jewish people that went through the work camps.

I very much recommend this book to everyone, not just those with an interest in Nazi Germany or World War II. "The Tattooist of Auschwitz" is a story out of history, a love story, and a story about human endurance.