The Tattooist of Auschwitz by Heather Morris

I stumbled upon ‘The Tattooist of Auschwitz’ by Heather Morris while I was waiting for my flight to Madrid. Although I’ve read a number of Auschwitz-themed books before, the summary of this book grabbed me right away. The gruels of Auschwitz play a big role, but this book is actually about love.

I read the book in only a couple of hours—the majority on the plane and I finished while riding the metro into Madrid’s city center. And I only wished ‘The Tattooist of Auschwitz’ was much, much longer.

After I finished reading, I immediately gave it to my friend and told her to read it, and said: “I wish my family read English books, because then I could give it to all of them to read too.”

Remember the small things, and the big things will work themselves out

In ‘The Tattooist of Auschwitz’ we follow Lale’s journey through Auschwitz. From his train ride into the camp to finding work, making friends—and falling in love.

Lale is positive, courageous, caring, brave, and will do anything to help and protect the ones he cares about, even if he’s not in a position to really do so.

While Lale’s story includes many of the shocking experiences we’ve heard from Auschwitz before and how he survived, this book is actually a love story.

If you wake up in the morning, it’s a good day

And it’s SO GOOD. I may have shed a tear or two and laughed out loud several times before I even finished the first 100 pages…

Lale’s love for Gita oozed from the pages and is incredibly moving. It’s a love story like all the others, where you daydream about someone loving you with all their being—but it’s set in the most loveless place you can imagine.

And that’s exactly what makes ‘The Tattooist of Auschwitz’ stand out from other World War II books. The book reads as a reminder that there’s light in the darkest of days (in Dumbledore’s words), instead of making me lose all faith in humanity.

The only thing I didn’t like is that the ending felt a little abrupt. Not because it wasn’t a good point to end the story, but because I’d been smiling and crying along with Lale and the others, and I just wanted to know what happened to them after the ending. Luckily, Heather Morris included a couple of pages with background information on Lale and Gita.

So, do I recommend it?

1000% YES. Go read it, even if you don’t like history or true stories.

Add ‘The Tattooist of Auschwitz’ by Heather Morris to your Goodreads to-read-list, or buy the book at the Book Depository or on Amazon.

Happy reading—

Petra