I listened to The Tattooist of Auschwitz for my Girls Book Club, and frankly, with the growing rise in global anti-Semitism, I think a whole lot of people would benefit from reading this story.

From the Publisher’s Summary:

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.

The Tattooist of Auschwitz is based on interviews that were conducted with Holocaust survivor and Auschwitz-Birkenau tattooist Ludwig (Lale) Sokolov. While there has been some discussion about discrepancies of details (like Gita’s number) the overall story has been substantiated. The disputed details take nothing away from the story, however.

The narration was haunting. At times, I found myself dreading the next paragraph or chapter, because I could tell what was potentially coming, and it was heartbreaking. The ability for humans to be cruel to one another sometimes seems to know no boundaries.

At the same time, the resilience of the human spirit, the power of hope, comes through the story. As does our instinct for survival. The things we may do, the tradeoffs we may make, just to keep our lives.

This is a heavy read. You feel the despair and agony and fear of the imprisoned Jews. You feel the love between Lale and Gita and the hope for survival.

I found myself tearing up more than once while working through this book. And I found myself thinking about recent events. I don’t understand how you read a book about the Holocaust or know anything about the depravity and human suffering and can say that “there are good people on both sides” when you talk about Nazis today. Have we learned so little from history?

Everyone at book club loved this book. It has earned a spot on my ‘must-read’ list.