Big thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for an ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.

I love World War 2 stories, and when they involve a true story, I love them even more. The Tattooist of Auschwitz is the story of the survival of a man, Lale, who became the person charged with tattooing numbers on the arms of the thousands of people that ended up this horrendous concentration camp. This story will take you through so many different emotions; sadness, rage, hope, love, the list goes on and on.

It is always amazing to me to read about the small kindnesses and hope that people risked their lives to bring to people in their darkest hour.

The author did a wonderful job of retelling Lale and his wife's story. I understood his background, his beliefs, his emotions; felt his dispair and pain and hope. I would encourage everyone to add this to their list of books to read. I hope this becomes a movie that does the book justice.

“If you wake up in the morning, it is a good day.”

How can I possibly review & rate the real-life account of a person who has stared death in the eye many times and managed to survive one of the darkest, most horrific chapters in human history? And not only survive, but find love, hope, purpose amidst the horror and come out of it a humble man, able to move on with his life and find happiness? Which makes Lale Sokolov’s story not only moving and heart-breaking, but also humbling and inspiring hope. I was so totally blown away by this book that I am really struggling to find words for the emotions it evoked in me.

I am no stranger to WWII stories, having worked with a lot of clients who had survived the holocaust and had their own tales of survival, heart-break and horror to tell – I shed many tears just listening to some of them. But the ever prevailing notion I so admired was that these people managed to forgive, find love, find happiness and live a full, rich life afterwards. Lale took it that one step further, finding his one true love at Auschwitz, this bleakest of places, and then managing to survive the horror AND be reunited with Gita. There is as much beauty in his story as there is horror.

I think what makes this story stand out from others is the simple but powerful account of everyday life in the concentration camp – without the overly graphic details aimed to shock and confront, which often only serve to turn some people away. Lale’s story tells of his daily reality, the horror that has become a routine, his meetings with terrifying historical figures that have made it into the history books as examples of the worst humankind has to offer, such as the sadistic “doctor” Josef Mengele. But as much as there was darkness, there was always a beacon of light in the small pleasures he found in this bleakest of environments, highlighting the strength of the human spirit. I remember vividly one simple statement one of my clients once said to me about her horrific wartime experience: “Yes, it was horrible. But we were young, and we were in love, and I remember that most of all.” That, too, was the spirit of Lale’s story – the triumph of love over depravity, of being able to survive when so many wished him dead.

Heather Morris, who spent years with Lale as he shared memories of his time in Auschwitz-Birkenau with her, does an excellent job in bringing this story to the reader, capturing the essence of a young man whose life was turned upside down by one of the worst chapters in human history. One day Lale was a young man enjoying the finer things in life – good food, beautiful young women, the comfort of a nice home and the love of his family – the next day he was on a cattle train bound for Auschwitz-Birkenau. Life can turn on a dime. This could be me, or you. In her writing, Morris manages to convey the spirit of a young man trying to survive, but also hold on to his humanity the best he can. It was heart-breaking and humbling to see the strength of the human spirit in the face of death.

What an amazing man. What an amazing story. Everyone should read this unforgettable book. Thank you, Heather Morris, for bringing Lale’s story to life for everyone to read and making sure we will not forget.

A beautifully written story about finding love in the worst of times, in the worst possible place: Auschwitz. Lale, the Tattooist, or Tetovierer, inks the arm of a woman in the camp and instantly falls in love with her. She, however is much more realistic. How can anything good come from a place of such evil? And so throughout his time at the camp, Lale does everything he can to find and then court Gita, the female prisoner who stole his heart.

Poignant and hopeful, this is truly an unbelievable love story. Told through interviews between the author and Lale, we learn that love rises above all else and brings hope to those who read this book..

The German government needed workers for their labor camps. In 1942, all families in Slovakia were ordered to provide a child eighteen or older for work detail or risk having the entire family sent to concentration camp. Lale Sokolov hoped that by going to Prague to await these instructions his family would be safe. He did not expect to be forced into a cattle wagon and be transported to Auschwitz. He was determined to do as he was told, reveal little about himself and always be observant.

Lale's upbeat manner as well as deference to his capo helped him secure the job of "Tetovierer", the tattooist. Rules: Look down. Be quick and efficiently tattoo the five numbers written on each person's piece of paper. In order to survive, he had to defile innocent people. The job of "Tetovierer" did have some perks. Lale was given his own room and increased food rations which he hid under his sleeve to distribute to others when possible. One day, Lale saw a girl with the darkest brown eyes. Gita. He made a vow to himself. He will leave Auschwitz a free man. He has just met the love of his life!

Through cunning, luck and love, Lale is instrumental in setting up a barter system with paid bricklayers, Victor and Yuri. Food and medicine are exchanged for gems and currency smuggled out of the "Canada" building where some of Gita's friends work to empty the pockets of clothing from
new arrivals at Auschwitz. Diamonds and chocolate entice an occasional guard or capo as well.

"The Tattooist of Auschwitz" by Heather Morris is based upon the harrowing experiences of Lale Sokolov in Auschwitz and Birkenau. The chilling accounts of total disregard for life are occasionally tempered by selfless goodness and sacrifice without which Lale and Gita's love story could not have been told. This slim tome documents less familiar aspects of Holocaust literature. A must read.

Thank you Bonnier Zaffre and Net Galley for the opportunity to read and review "The Tattooist of Auschwitz".

Beautifully written, incredible read this book made my heart hurt for what he and his fellow comrades had to endure just to survive. I was left speechless really its just that powerful! this is one of those books that you cant really say or explain it in words you can only say READ THIS BOOK I HIGHLY RECOMMED IT YOU WONT REGRET IT! bravo to the author!

If I could give this book more than 5 stars, I would. This story is so beautifully written and is about hope, love and survival in the most horrific of surroundings. Whenever I read about Auschwitz, I cannot believe that something so awful actually took place - it makes me so sad. Lale and Gita's journey is a shining light and I loved going on the journey with them.

The story of two people living during a sad and horrible time in history. It's very important to recount the holocaust. It´s also very important to keep the memory of the survivors alive. Through this barbaric time there was still love, humanity and hope. Great storytelling

I have read many books, non-fiction and fiction about the Holocaust and concentration camps. This novel however, left an impression and I truly enjoyed reading it. It was an intense read, however I could not put it down. The novel is well written and fascinating and I think Ms Morris did a spectacular job of describing the experiences of Lale Sokolov.

What a beautiful story about the very best of humanity in the very worst of circumstances. Heather Morris took four years of notes about the life of Lale Sokolov and turned it into a story about love, friendship and struggle amidst the horrors of Auschwitz concentration camp. There are many survivors of the Holocaust that are getting to the age where their story will become lost due to time and age…. so tthis was a powerful story worth telling. I love the story about Lale's mother teaching him how to to be a man and how to treat a woman to the verry chilling story about Dr. Joseph Mengele and his encounter with Lale. One thing that did sadden me was the tale of Ms. Morris saying that Lale held his story back for over 50 years because of the fear that he and Gita might be seen as collaborators of the Nazis and how fast he wanted to be back with his beloved Gita. I have to commend Miss Morris for a wonderful telling of the story…. she did a beautiful job. I would like to thank the author, the publisher and NetGalley for an advance copy in return for an honest review

Whatever review I write here will never be able to do this book justice. I genuinely think this is one of the most important books to have been written, and the true events held within it are so powerful, utterly heartbreaking and devastating are something that everyone should read.

Lale Sokolov was one of the early volunteers to give himself up as a member of his family to go to Auschwitz, in the hope that he would save the rest of his family. He is transported to Auschwitz and is soon selected by chance (and by his saviour) to become the tattooist of both Auschwitz and Birkenau camps. A gentle kind man, he deeply feels the hurt and condemnation of every inked number he marks upon the new intakes in the concentration camp.

It is in such a desolate environment that Lale meets the love of his life: Gita. He was taken by her immediately upon branding her skin. It is this love story that is the real heart of the book. And one that stays with you long after reading.

I have to be completely honest, although the tattoos of Auschwitz are infamous, I have paid little thought to the person that had done so many of them. I didn’t even realise that it was a fellow prisoner who was forced to brand so many other victims (much to my shame).

This book makes you really think about the individuals that endured such torture, and not to look at it just a whole. Lale was given ‘special’ treatment as the tattooist in the form of separate living quarters and extra food rations. As such he was treated as an outsider by his fellow men and seen by some as a collaborator. What they didn’t realise is that he stole this extra food to give to others more needy and exchanged stolen goods for medicine and bribes to the guards to help others and spend time with his beloved.

He meets some of the most horrifying people that we have heard of from this era– Mengele being one of them. We get to hear about this abhorrent man and how his disregard for human life affected some of the people Lale knew personally.

We also learn of people who were punished following their imprisonment. Again this wasn’t something I had even thought much about, but broke my heart to learn. For example, Cilka: who was sentenced to 15 years after the war for being seen as a collaborator when in fact she was a plaything for a Nazi guard and broken to her core. Doing anything she can to survive and she was punished and judged for it.

I could go on and on about this book. A story of one incredible man whose love and faith in Gita does not diminish no matter what hardship, cruelty & barbarism it endures.

This is one book that shows the real juxtapositions of war; in amongst the brutality and devastation there still lies real love, humanity and kindness. It is not an easy read, I cried several times. Yet this is such an important part of history that should never be forgotten. We need to honour the millions that suffered by educating ourselves with books like this and keeping this period of time in our memories.

I would like to thank Netgalley & Bonnier Zaffre for an ARC of this book in exchange for a review.

I have been reading many recounts of holocaust survivors recently. This is the first that was told in more of a novel form, which included many "conversations" between Lale and others he knew during his time just before and during his time at Auschwitz. Per the book, the author did get the information directly from Lale Sokolov, so while not maybe exact quotes, they were conversations which did take place. Lale actually "volunteered" to go Auschwitz. In other words, the families were supposed to give up one member of their family to the German army. They did not know where they were going. His brother, who was older, was going to go, but he was married with a child. Another aspect of this story which was different than any others I have read is that Lale found love in the concentration camp. He met and fell in love with Gita. "his survival is quite miraculous. On more than one occasion, Gita and others thought he had been taken away to be killed. Someone even asked him if he was a cat because of how many lives he seemed to have. There is at least one lovemaking scene which I did not feel was needed in a story like this. I am glad they found each other and were able to find love under such horrifying times and the fact they were able to make love was wonderful, but I would have preferred no details. Not that it was incredibly detailed, but simply saying "they made love" would have been fine by me. Kind of hard to think of anyone making love when others were being killed just yards away. Maybe I am a tad prudish, but.... All in all, I really enjoyed this book and am giving it a 3.5-star review rounded to 4.

The Tattooist of Auschwitz by Heather Morris is a wonderful, must read edition to Holocaust literature. It tells the story of Lale Sokolov, in charge of tattooing serial numbers on the arms of new arrivals at the Auschwitz Concentration Camp in Poland. His official title was “tetovierer”.

The story begins in the opening months of World War II, Sokolov’s hometown in Solokov. He is Jewish but initially he is not greatly concerned over the Nazis as his country allowed Germany to take over without a fight. He has a good job as a department store manager, is well educated speaking five languages including German, Russian, Polish and Yiddish. He has a comfortable life, living with his parents. His biggest hope is to find a woman to love all his life. The Germans issue an order for Jews to report for transportation to what they are lead to believe is a labour camp. He voluntarily reports, thinking it will safe- guard his family. Soon he is packed into a cattle car on a train headed for Auschwitz-Birkenau Concentration Camp. Morris does a wonderful job depicting the horrible transportation and arrival at the camp.


Through luck and his ability to speak the languages of the Germans and most of their captives, he becomes assistant to the man, also a Jewish inmate, in charge of placing number tattoos on the arms of the arriving inmates. He has been given a privileged job, working directly for the SS, with more food and better accommodations than the other inmates. He worries he will be seen as a collaborator but above all he wants to survive.

Soon the head Tattooist disappears, Solokov is made the tetovierer. He is given an SS minder, and an assistant. He tries not to hurt those the marks, being deeply ashamed of tattooing especially the women. He begins to give some extra rations to the friends he made in the camp. Morris reveals how he meets a woman in the camp, Gita, and falls in love with her. She and her camp friends work sorting through the things Camp inmates have brought with them. Solokov has made a kind of friendship with a Polish man who works day labour on building more facilities for the camp. He exchanges gems and money the women find for more food for his friends. He gets chocolate, a highly valued commodity, and gives it to the woman, an inmate, in charge of Gita’s barracks to get her more privileges. Morris makes this all very exciting.

Months then years go by, they find a way to consummate their love, Lela talks to her about their future outside the camp but Gita is afraid very much of getting her hopes up. Of course tragic things happen to those Morris has made us feel deeply for. We see how the inmates try to help each other to survive. The encounters with the notorious Doctor Mengele were chilling. I was so sad when I learned what happened to a good friend of Gita, forced into the role of mistress to the camp commandant. Morris lets us feel the joy when Lale and Gita are reunited, after his search through the Waste Land of his home country.


As I read the work I of course knew that Gita and Lale would survive, marry and have a long good life together, ultimately moving to Australia but it was super suspenseful waiting to see just what happened. The account of the closing of the camps and Lale’s search for Gita were very thrilling.

The Tattooist of Auschwitz by Helen Morris is a very moving book, showing the survival of humanity in a brutal place. I love this story.

Helen Morris spent four years getting to know Sokolov and learning his story.

Author autobiography from her Goodreads page


I am a Native of New Zealand now resident in Australia, working in a large public hospital in Melbourne. For several years I studied and wrote screenplays, one of which was optioned by an academy award winning Screenwriter in the U.S. In 2003, I was introduced to an elderly gentleman "who might just have a story worth telling". The day I met Lale Sokolov changed my life, as our friendship grew and he embarked on a journey of self scrutiny, entrusting the inner most details of his life during the Holocaust. I originally wrote Lale's story as a screenplay - which ranked high in international competitions - before reshaping it into my debut novel, The Tattooist of Auschwitz.

I strongly urge all libraries to acquire this book and anyone at all interested in the Holocaust to read this magnificent story.


Mel u

It's so easy to think of the stories of WWII and Auschwitz holistically. What happened was disgusting, barbaric, dehumanising and just plain heart-breaking. But, generally speaking, I think most people I hear talking around this issue talk about it regarding the whole situation. Very few individual stories are well known, or are exposed to us. What I loved so much about this book is that it actually made me stop and think; each and every one of those people, regardless of their number or rank within the system or whether they survived or didn't, had their own story. So, so many stories (unimaginably high in fact) which many of us are indescribably lucky to not have to experience firsthand, but that are so uniquely eye-opening to hear and read about.

This is one such story. A quite unexpected story in fact of love, despite the odds, within the concentration camps. Lale is the tattooist of the Auschwitz and Birkenau Complex, adding a number inked into the skin of everyone entering; he is the Tetovierer. This means that he has most definitely landed on his feet within the system, receiving extra rations and better living standards than the average prisoner within the camps. But actually, his survival situation is perhaps more complex because of this - not only is he judged by his fellow prisoners for having more than them, but he is also almost on the outside looking in at his countrymen as they perish. It is hard to imagine the conflicting, complex emotions someone might feel for playing a part in the system built by the Nazi's murdering their friends right before their eyes. Collaborator to some, but survivalist to himself, Lale makes sure he uses his advantages to help others by stealing rations, medicine and trading stolen goods for treats.

Lale's position however introduces him to a girl, Gita, who he brands with a number and sends on her way into the camp. But he can't forget about her. So unfolds Lale's tale of trying to court a love interest in the heart of the most evil place on Earth.

What's so beautiful about this book is not actually that it's true. Because it is both too beautiful and too ugly to really "enjoy" reading such an honest first hand account. What struck me the most was how quickly relationships, and very strong friendships almost akin to family, develop when times are so terrible. The level of love, not only romantically but also from friend to friend in this book really touched me; it's not difficult actually to imagine how integral to survival having another person to support and encourage and care for you really could be. Interestingly, there are a couple of prominent moments within the book when Lale's story gives you cause to think about the "bad guys" too. A character who genuinely only has one line within this book showed an act of kindess to Lale when he most needs it and this has stuck with me. Does being on the "wrong" side in a War dictate who you are forevermore?

It's hard to read about some of the things written in this book. There are small cameos from prominent people you will recognise, including Mengele and his experiments. Many readers will be familiar with some of these stories but somehow reading about an account of someone who looked this man in the face makes the scenes chilling to read.

The author also touches upon the potential people have lost, and not only those who have lost it from dying within the camps, but those who survived to return to the lives they had stolen from them. The future the prisoners had imagined for themselves before the War was taken from them in seconds, but irrevocably changed once they had seen and experienced the things that they did.

For me, the take home message for us as readers, and for the survivors who were brave enough to tell their story to share with the World, is that we become familiar with these stories enough to remember the way it was, so that it will never be again. A hard-hitting, important book with love at it's core.

A brave story shared with an author who delivers it perfectly for one man, and his love affair, who would not be defeated.