In April 1942, Lale Sokolov, a Slovakian Jew, is forcibly transported to the concentration camps at Auschwitz-Birkenau. When his captors discover that he speaks several languages, he is put to work as a Tätowierer (the German word for tattooist), tasked with permanently marking his fellow prisoners.
Imprisoned for over two and a half years, Lale 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.
A vivid, harrowing, and ultimately hopeful re-creation of Lale Sokolov’s experiences as the man who tattooed the arms of thousands of prisoners with what would become one of the most potent symbols of the Holocaust, The Tattooist of Auschwitz is also a testament to the endurance of love and humanity under the darkest possible conditions.
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Aw man, I had such high hopes for this one, but sadly this fell a bit short for me. First of all, this is a beautiful true story about Lale Sokolov and his time at Auschwitz-Birkenau as the Tätowierer. I can’t imagine what he and all other prisoners had to go through just to survive to the next day.
What lost me was the writing of the story. At times, the story was hard to follow along as the scene would change without any warning. One reviewer wrote that she couldn’t tell you one personality trait of Gita (Lale’s love interest) and I have to agree. I was hoping for more emotion whereas it just fell flat.
I felt the most emotion reading the Afterword from Lale’s son. It was beautiful and filled with so much love for his parents. I wish that he had written the entire novel!
3 calculators out of a potential 5. A generous 3 calculators since I only found the novel to be ok due to the writing.
Great honest review
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Thank you!
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It is a pity that such a historic story was not written as well as it could be.
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I know, so disappointing!
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What a shame.
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I know, so disappointing!
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Wow, I had heard so many good things about this one! I’ve been kicking myself for not getting around to reading it yet, but maybe that’s a good thing if it isn’t all it’s hyped up to be!
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I’m in the minority, so many other readers loved it!
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I have this one but haven’t gotten to it yet – too bad it was a miss for you
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I hope you love it!
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Oh, too bad this wasn’t up to your expectations. Hope your next read is better 📚
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Thank you! I hope so too!
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I’m sorry this one didn’t meet your expectations. I still want to read it!
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I hope you love it!
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It’s a pity you didn’t like it. I’ve heard only good things about it, but for some reason I’ve been avoiding reading it. Now, after reading your review, I’m kind of glad I didn’t read it.
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So many other reviewers loved it. I’m definitely in the minority.
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I am not a fan of historical books but I was hoping this one would get a good review.
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Same here, so disappointing.
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I don’t think it would be a book for me anyway but I know it seems to be a book that have very mixed reviews. Great review.
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Thank you!
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What a pity. I so wanted to read this one.
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I know it was disappointing! I hope you still get a chance to read it and you enjoy it more than I did!
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I have been thinking of reading this for a while now; and the story still intrigues me so I still do want to read it as I do always get caught up in these historicals based on true stories. Sorry it did not work for you though
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Thank you! I hope you love it!
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Oh no I have this one in my TBR stack. Great review.
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Thank you! I hope you enjoy it more than I did!
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I agree with you totally Amanda. I really wanted to love this one, but it just didn’t resonate with me the way I had hoped. Nice review.
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