The tattooist of Auschwitz (III)

Heather Morris, the writer, pauses a few paragraphs to tell us about Gita's illness and how Black Mary, the cart of death, immediately appears in Lale's head; while she introduces us to Cilka, to whom her beauty goes beyond the surface, a virtue that is a rarity in most mortals.

Now, my friend, I ask you to think for a moment about the strongest man you have ever known. They don't count famous actors in the style of Schwarzenegger or Dwayne Johnson; neither the Tarzan Gordon Scott nor the Hercules Steve Reeves of my childhood. My mate Mike was a fan of the first, I preferred the second, just as muscular but more stylized. Why am I asking you? Because in Auschwitz, in Block 7, in the winter of 1942 there was a strongman named Jakub, a giant who will not appear again in the novel until chapter 19.

Tenderness. You can close your eyes, as in the scene where Lale offers Gita a piece of chocolate, and take part in a bit of the happiness that the couple is secretly enjoying.

Chapter 9 begins with the modification of the numbers that the protagonist must incise a new group of newcomers; the Tätowierer shall put ahead of the digits a Z. If you like and you have time, you can peek into a translator which German word would fit the clues I give you.

However, the greatest weight of this chapter undoubtedly falls on the sexual assault suffered by Cilka, Gita's friend and workmate, at the hands of the Senior Commandant of Birkenau.

To end this instalment, I´ll tell you that the new Romani prisoners represent a turning point for the Slovak in his prejudice towards this people. Do you understand now about the Z?

 

From my Borstal.

LDR

 

 

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