What a fantastic book this was to read. Very moving about the necessary struggles to get through life in a concentration camp.

Thank you for my ARC copy of this book. While not a book that I would normally choose for myself, I found The Tattooist of Auschwitz touching, sad, and compelling. I would recommend it to others.

The truly harrowing and moving story of Lale Sokolov who due to his multi-lingual ability was given the job of tattooist when he was imprisoned in the concentration and extermination camp Auschwitz-Birkenau. Due to his position, Lale had a slightly more priviledged life in the camp than many of the other prisoners, but his resilience and his refusal to give in meant he used this for both his own gain and to the advantage of others', including his 'love' Gita.
This book transports its reader to history's darkest chapter and the love story kept hidden amongst the atrocities. It dares to ask whether forbidden love can survive even during the most horrific of circumstances. It's a story of endurance, hope, love but most of all, an overwhelming yearning to survive.

Many thanks to Netgalley for providing me with this ARC, for which I have given a voluntary and unbiased review.

I finished reading this yesterday after reading in 2 straight sittings, it is a powerful and compelling read. I had already read some amazing reviews about this book and they piqued my interest and the book did not disappoint.

Based on a true account of the amazingly courageous Lale and his time in the Auschwitz Concentration Camp. This book is thought provoking, it draws you in as you get to know Lale and how he adapts to survive and the relationships he develops with those around him. It reflects on love, loss and the horrors experienced first hand for those in the Concentration Camps during this time. The style in which it is written allows you to understand Lale and see how and why he made the decision to survive and undertake the task of tattooing the numbers onto those arriving to the Auschwitz Camp.

This honest reflection shows how despite horrendous living conditions and malnutrition people of different nationalities and religions developed relationships trying to hold on to their humanity in the hope that they may walk again outside the confines of the electric fences.

This has been one of my top reads for 2017 and I hope it gains the recognition it deserves as it has been written with the utmost respect to the memory of Lale and Gita.

The true story of one man's struggle in surviving life in a concentration camp during the second world war. A harrowing account of the atrocities committed during this period. An interesting read if the way of writing is a little light at times - a little 'he said, she said'.

'Choosing to live is an act of defiance, a form of heroism'.

This is a true story about survival and love in the toughest conditions, Auschwitz concentration camp.

This book will stay with me for a very long time.

Highly recommended!

Extremely grateful to the publishers and NetGalley for providing me with an advance copy for review purposes. This is an honest review and I have not been paid for providing this.
This book based upon true events, highlights the worst and best in human beings and how they treat one another. The subject matter had me thinking that it would be extremely graphic in terms of the treatment dished out. Fortunately it is not described in overly graphic detail. An absolutely wonderfully written tale and I am so glad that I had the opportunity to read. Not going to give away the story, just read it for yourself. Well worth the effort.

A memoir, a love story and a story of survival during the darkest days of European history . My grandmother left Germany in 1939 and narrowly escaped the fates in the camps her relatives were not so lucky. This memoir of love and survival struck a chord with me. I literally couldnt put it down

Amazing read, true story, brings the horror of the Holocaust to life. A beautiful love story in tragic circumstances

This is a beautiful book. It's sad but heartwarming at the same time. The writing captures how amazing strong and beautiful Lale was. He faced death on a daily basis and risks his life to give a little food to the other who has even less than him. I could be wrong but it came across as he felt given a little was his way of saying sorry for his role in the camps.
I cannot begin to imagine the horrors that was suffered by all in the camps. The author helps portray this very well in a heart breaking yet engaging read. I love it.

Of course, this is a vey difficult book to read, but definitely a very important book to have been written! Heather Morris recounts Lale's experiences in Europe in the grip of Nazism and the concentration camp Auschwitz. We are reminded that even in the most horrible place, in the darkest time, under the most inhumane circumstances, love and kindness prevail. This extraordinary story of love, friendship and humanity, breaks our hearts and yet leaves us hopeful.

A moving story blending effortlessly fact into a novel style read

Wow. Beautiful, simply written and haunting.
A must-read, brings another perspective to life in Auschwitz-Birkenau.

Very interesting approach as written in present tense, which I haven’t noticed in a book before.

5*. No more needs to be said.

On reading past the epilogue, you discover that this is not a novel but a true story - even more powerful.

I am a second generation survivor as my father and his family were in the Holocaust and have read many books about it, but this one touched me so deeply. This is a story of resilience, survival and love and is a very powerful one that needs to be heard.
This beautifully written and powerful book is the true story of Lale and Gita Sokolov who meet in Auschwitz. whose power of love gave them hope for their future outside of the camps and Lale never stopped believing they would leave one day.
Lale says "Choosing to live is an act of defiance, a form of heroism"

To begin with, I want to point out that this book was an eBook I received as an ARC from NetGalley for free, but all thoughts are still my own. The release date is the 11th of January 2018 and is based on the true story of Lale and Gita Sokolov, who are survivors of Auschwitz. It begins in 1942 and we follow Lale who is a Jew who works as the tattooist between Auschwitz and Birkenau. It's in a third person perspective with occasional insight into the thoughts of Lale. I absolutely loved this book and thought it was a powerful and emotional story of survival in such an awful time. I've always found books and information to do with the Holocaust and that era very interesting because it amazes me how people could be so cruel and how horrible it must have been to have been punished for being something you can't help, whether that be your skin colour, ethnic background, religion or sexuality, it horrifies me that people were treated so cruelly but it is so inspiring to see how people survived such terrible events. Lale is such a wonderful, amazing man who uses his power as the tattooist to help others, he is truly an amazing man and Gita is also such a strong woman and they have such a powerful connection. I will say now that this book has themes of violence, bad language, sex, death and love, so it may not be suitable for younger readers, but still, it was such an amazing and interesting book. The dates are frequently mentioned throughout the book, which really gives an insight into how long Lale and Gita have had to deal with what has been thrown at them during their time in the camps and how amazing it is that they have survived so much. The hope of freedom, which is something a lot of us really do take for granted, is something that helps them get through the day, it gives them a reason to survive and wake up and do whatever they can in the hopes of being free. This story is such an emotional one that I found myself really pacing through this book, I found it so difficult to put down. The ending even contains an epilogue for what happened after the book to the real Lale and Gita and how he just wanted to get his story out there and how strong their love was. It was beautiful and inspiring and I hope others pick up this book when it is released next year. I highly recommend this, especially if you find this sort of thing fascinating.
Link provided will be active on the 4th December 2017
The review is copied from the blog post.

The story of Lale and Gita, who met at Auschwitz and survived despite the odds. Lale told his story only in his last year's after Gita had died, mainly to unburdon himself. He worried about how people would react and view the role he played as the tattooist at the camp. Truly, it is at its root a story of the lengths we go to in order to survive. As Lale said, "Choosing to live is an act of defiance, a form of heroism." The writing is basic which lets the focus remain in the story instead of the storytelling .

3.5 Stars

"Save the one, save the world."

The story of Lale Sokolov is certainly one that needed to be told, to be remembered....his bravery....the risks....his determination to help others....to survive the horrors of Auschwitz....and, of course, how he found the love of his life.

The cattle train, the starvation, the crematoria and the evil Dr. Mengele; it's all here, but still, I did not feel the terror in the narration as compared to the many other holocaust novels I've read.

That being said, I am glad I read this one and now know of the existence of this amazing man who was THE TATTOOIST OF AUSCHWITZ.

Memorable debut and work of historical fiction surrounding the lives of Ludwig Eisenberg (Sokolov) and Gisela Fuhrmannova.

Many thanks to Bonnier Zaffre and NetGalley for the ARC (coming January, 2018) in exchange for an honest review.

Wow !! An amazing , harrowing and heartbreaking true story of how human beings can find inner strength and love in the face of evil and in the most dire of circumstances!!I I I loved this book and it is a read that will stay with me for a very long time . My thanks to netgalley and the publisher for my chance to read

This is the Story of 24 yr old Lale sakalov from Krompachy  who volunteered himself when it was demanded that each Jewish family hand over a child aged 18 or older to the german government, after a warning that failure to do so would result in the whole family being taken to a concentration camp.
Whilst at the camp Lale becomes ill, he  meets a french man called Pepan who works in the camp tattooing the prisoners..... he offers Lale a job working with  him to which Lale hates the thought of ... but pepan convinces him by saying if he doesnt do it someome with less soul will... one who doesnt mind hurting others.
And this is how Lale becomes the tattooist of Auschwitz.
This horrific, heartbreaking story gripped me from the first page, to the last. When i wasnt reading it, my mind kept thinking of it.  When i say it brought tears to my eyes i am not exaggerating. It was so hard reading of what was endured, but so touching reading Lale's love for Gita and how that got them both through the 3 years that they spent at the camp. I have recommended this book over and over.

What an amazing book detailing the true story of Lale and Gita making me cry as I read it. I lived in Belgium for many years and met other people who managed to survive the Holocaust - none ever wanted to talk as it was too traumatic for them to retell. This took a lot of bravery and I imagine a great deal of pain for Lale to tell this horrific story. We have all heard bits of what went on in both concentration camps and the death camps in particular Auschwitz and is sister camp Birkenhau but this book takes everything many steps further and brings the evil sadistic side into the open without describing facts that are already known. How I would have loved to meet Lale and Gita to sit and hear them talk. This book is as near as I will ever get to sense in a minuscule way what his life was like and how he was driven to survive. I think that this book should be a compulsory read by every school child the world over in an attempt to clarify the horrors of WW2.
Highly recommend this to everyone to read as it is so beautifully written, easy to read, and once began it becomes impossible to stop reading. It brings love, war atrocities and despicable horror into one book.