The tattooist of Auschwitz (II)

Nor do I like books that boast on their cover with the strategy of being or having been a bestseller, emphasising as if it were a military medal achieved in the media and commercial struggle of sales. And with this I´m not saying, my friend, that all the books that have sold the most are crap.

The tattooist… it could be one of those worth reading. So let's continue.

The protagonist, Lale, is already in Auschwitz, he already knows the meaning of the colour of the triangles that each prisoner wears and the meaning even of those who don´t wear triangles; but above all, in chapter second he´s already proposed as assistant to the official Tätowierer.

The following chapters describe the moment when the young man makes his first tattoos and meets a girl, prisoner number 4562, that he has been forced to tattoo. The doubts and indecisions of the young Slovak are shown and the desire he has to see the girl again on Sunday, the only day these prisoners have on rest. How considerate these Nazis!

Lale is assigned a boss, an SS named Baretski, with whom he begins a tense and dangerous relationship, but who, on the other hand, will allow him to achieve small objectives, such as serving as a courier between him and the number 4562.

The newly arrived prisoner continues with his mission, being lectured by old Pepan, the Tätowierer, who advises him how to act in a place like that. At the same time, Lale gets to know the girl's name. For him it will no longer be a four-digit number, for him it´s already a four-letter word, a wonderful word: Gita.

It´s in the sixth chapter that the cursed word is named: crematorium. The Crematorium One is being built and this means that later the Crematorium Two will come, and then the Crematorium Three, and later the Four and even the Five!

Two new characters appear at this time. They are father and son who work as contractors building the crematory oven and who provide the protagonist with food in exchange for jewellery.

Reader, if you have come this far, you may not be bored by the story and we will meet again.

 

From my Borstal.

LDR

 

The tattooist of Auschwitz.- Morris, Heather.- Zaffre, London, 2018