Book Review ~ The Tattooist of Auschwitz ~ Author Heather Morris

TITLE - The Tattooist of Auschwitz

AUTHOR - Heather Morris

FORMAT - Kindle

PAGES - 293

Buy Link - click here

SYNOPSIS - 

**4 MILLION COPIES SOLD WORLDWIDE**

For readers of Schindler's List, The Man Who Broke into Auschwitz and The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas comes a heart-breaking story of the very best of humanity in the very worst of circumstances.

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.

MY REVIEW 

I have always had an interest in the subject of the Holocaust. I don't know why, but it's something I like to read about and something that I think should be talked about and shared.

I'd heard a lot about this book so had to read it. What is upsetting is that this is not a book of fiction, but based on a true story. It's harrowing but at the same time unputdownable (if that is even a word!)

It's based in 1942 around Auschwitz-Birchenhau concentration camps. The main character, the Tattooist, is Lale. He was determined to do whatever he could to survive. He did not sacrifice others along the way, and did all he could to help them, with the privileges he was given being the Tätowierer. He even fell in love, so made the best of life that he could whilst he was in the camp. 

This book is a sad read, all the more knowing these events happened. It's very rare I ever shed a tear reading a book but I have to admit having done so reading this one.

It's an important read and something that should never be allowed to happen again.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

(Courtesy of the authors website)
I was born in Te Awamutu, New Zealand, a small rural town in the middle of the North Island. I had an older brother, then three more boys followed. My childhood was spent in the even smaller village of Pirongia with four generations of my family living within proximity of each other. My primary school years were spent at the local school which at that time only had a handful of classrooms. For secondary schooling I went to Te Awamutu College.

Photo by Lori Mayger 2019

An average student, according to my reports, except for commercial subjects, shorthand and typing, and sport. I was an athlete, a swimmer, played netball and tennis. And while I loved reading, devouring the Encyclopaedia Britannica where I could escape to far-away exotic lands, attempts to make me write my own stories, failed. I was told from a very young age, I could tell a good story, and growing up in a time when children where asked to be seen not heard, was enough.

In 1971 I moved to Melbourne, Australia, to escape what I considered the claustrophobic environment of having too many extended family members around me. Soon after arriving in Melbourne I met my husband to be Steve (don’t call me Stephen) Morris and we married in 1973.

In 1975 Steve and I returned to New Zealand, living in Christchurch, South Island, a reasonable distance from my hometown and family in the North Island.

Our first son was born in 1976, another son in 1980 and our daughter in 1985.

Waking up one morning I realised I had missed out on something – the extended education I secretly craved that was not offered when I left school. I commenced a B.A. degree at Canterbury University (NZ) in 1986 before moving back to Melbourne in 1987. After a year settling our family into a much bigger city, I enrolled and completed my B.A. at Monash University in 1991. I majored in Political Science.

In 1995 I began work in the Social Work Department at Monash Medical Centre in Melbourne where I stayed until 2017.

During this period, I watched our three children grow into amazing adults. I was involved in their sport and at the age of forty-five became a competitive Veteran athlete, primarily taking part in the various ‘throwing’ competitions. Shot-put, discus, javelin and my favourite, hammer throwing. I never stopped telling stories, or as my husband called them – long-winded tales.

In 1996 I decided to follow my passion for storytelling and enrolled in The Professional Scriptwriting Course through the Australian College of Journalism.

I went on to attend many screenwriting courses, seminars and workshops in both Australia and the U.S. My workplace provided me with a wealth of heroic storylines, several of which I adapted into screenplays that now line the bottom drawer of my desk.

And then I met Lale Sokolov.

http://www.heathermorrisauthor.com/about-heather/