• The Tattooist of Auschwitz

  • A Novel
  • By: Heather Morris
  • Narrated by: Richard Armitage
  • Length: 7 hrs and 25 mins
  • 4.8 out of 5 stars (30,315 ratings)

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The Tattooist of Auschwitz  By  cover art

The Tattooist of Auschwitz

By: Heather Morris
Narrated by: Richard Armitage
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Publisher's summary

This beautiful, illuminating tale of hope and courage is based on interviews that were conducted with Holocaust survivor and Auschwitz-Birkenau tattooist Ludwig (Lale) Sokolov - an unforgettable love story in the midst of atrocity.

In April 1942, Lale Sokolov, a Slovakian Jew, is forcibly transported to the concentration camps at Auschwitz-Birkenau. When his captors discover 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 more than 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 recreation 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.

©2018 Heather Morris (P)2018 Bolinda Publishing Pty Ltd

Critic reviews

"Richard Armitage is a superb narrator whose performance here is among his best.... Armitage's performance captures every emotion from fear to trepidation to hope and even to love with understated warmth." (AudioFile)

"The audio version of this book is a particularly strong marriage of narrator and material. The British actor Richard Armitage uses an impressive variety of actorly tools as he shifts perspective.... He skillfully conveys the cruel, mocking tone that the SS officers and guards often used with prisoners as a way of reinforcing their power. Even when he isn't portraying a specific character, Armitage keeps the listener engaged and alert by modulating his tone, sometimes within individual sentences. At times it seems as if there are two narrators, so often, and ably, does Armitage vary his delivery.... [The author's] compassion for her characters, combined with Armitage's riveting delivery, makes this an immensely satisfying book to listen to, whatever else you might happen to be doing." (The New York Times Book Review)

"The Tattooist of Auschwitz is an extraordinary document, a story about the extremes of human behavior existing side by side: calculated brutality alongside impulsive and selfless acts of love. I find it hard to imagine anyone who would not be drawn in, confronted and moved. I would recommend it unreservedly to anyone, whether they’d read a hundred Holocaust stories or none." (Graeme Simsion, internationally best-selling author of The Rosie Project)

Featured Article: 55+ Quotes for Whenever You Need a Little Encouragement


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What listeners say about The Tattooist of Auschwitz

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  • Overall
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    4 out of 5 stars

A hopeful perspective on a harrowing time

Do we really need another book about the Holocaust? Yes, yes, yes, a thousand times yes. We must continue to revisit society tragedies lest we forget. The unique aspect of The Tattooist of Auschwitz by Heather Morris is that she took a very dark time in history and shared a story of joy, hope, and love through this tale of two courageous individuals. The book is based on the true story of Lale and Gita who fall in love at first site as Lale is given the horrible task of tattooing numeric identifiers on captured Jews. A multilingual Slovakian Jew, Lale was one of the "lucky" ones who was able to secure a "privileged" position of tätowierer. Once he meets Gita for those few moments, there is an instant connection and he knows he must find her again. He is successful and a challenging love affair ensues. So, while the backdrop of this book is the Holocaust and World World II, the prevailing plot is a love story.

I listened to this book via Audible. It was narrated by English actor, Richard Armitage, who was simply perfect in his narration. His voice is captivating. Granted Heather Morris has told a beautiful tale, and Armitage's voice just added icing to the cake. I found myself almost tired at times pulling for Lale and Gita. I won't say I was pulling for a happy ending because what is happy about the Holocaust, but rather, I was yearning for a hopeful ending. I felt strongly that hope would be revealed in the end, but it was a struggle listening to the atrocities before both main characters arrived there. Both the story and the narration pulled me in and didn't let me go until I'd finished listening to the author's notes and son's afterword at the very end.

Some criticisms I've read about this book is that there was not enough focus on the evils of the concentration camp. I disagree. If you want to read a book that goes into more in-depth detail on the horrors of Auschwitz and other concentration camps, there are hundreds of fiction and non-fiction books that will meet that need. This book is a love story, so much so, that the concentration camp setting of the book seemed to be relatively short to me even though it covered three long, tortuous years. My only criticism of this book is that some of the loose ends were not resolved. For example, what happened to Silka and Donna?

Recommendation: The Holocaust was real. It is a reality that the few living survivors continue to be haunted by. I really appreciated this hopeful perspective on this harrowing time period. If you're a WWII historical fiction (although this book included non-fiction elements) junkie, I think you will appreciate this book. Do yourself a favor and read along with the sultry Richard Armitage!

Until next time ... Read on!

Regardless of whether I purchase a book, borrow a book, or receive a book in exchange for review, my ultimate goal is to be honest, fair, and constructive. I hope you've found this review helpful.

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372 people found this helpful

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    5 out of 5 stars
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Lest We Forget

For such a horrific time in history, this unforgettable love story was beautifully written. We must continue to make sure our children's children learn of thus time. Lest as a society, we forget.

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128 people found this helpful

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Incredible story, performed brilliantly

An incredible story of perseverance and hope! I finished listening to the book this morning and I've been deeply affected, to say the least. Of course, I've read and learned much about the Holocaust in my lifetime, but this is a different perspective. And it's a first-hand account of one who was there. There were multiple times while listening that I had tears streaming down my face. One of the things that really stood out to me was the details of the individuals Lale met. You see each person as an individual with their own personal struggle to survive. And through the eyes of each person, you see a different experience during this dark time.

Richard Armitage is a MASTER of narration. You truly feel like you are listening to the actual people speaking, in all of their different dialects and accents- rather than just one man expertly stepping into their voices and experiences. Richard is truly a master of his craft. Thank you, Richard Armitage, for bringing this story to life in a way I'll never forget.

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77 people found this helpful

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    3 out of 5 stars
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Very uneven performance. Read this one instead.

I wish I’d read instead of listened to this book. I liked the story but the performance was pretty bad most of the time. I actually think it was the editing. It’s like they recorded it twice and each recording was dramatically different but they spliced the together anyway. Very annoying to follow and jarring. It takes away from the story itself.

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71 people found this helpful

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    5 out of 5 stars
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Weird distracting overlapping; bad sound engineer

It's like they found out after recording that they got the main character's name wrong and had to go back and insert the right name throughout. Especially noticeable in chapters 20-26.

Also sounds like they had 2-3 different readers, or perhaps the sound engineers were inexperienced and didn't know that you don't start a new session until a new chapter. You measure the distance from mouth to mic and keep that same distance.

For such a beautiful story, the sound engineers really messed up this reading.

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66 people found this helpful

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    5 out of 5 stars
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TREMENDOUS

I resisted this book for weeks, always passing it over for an " easier" title. I am so glad I " Bravely decided to delve into this book. It is extremely well written. If you enjoyed a gentleman from Moscow this is your next read.

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51 people found this helpful

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Tattooist

Fast paced story that keeps you riveted to the book. Characters portray the time period well. I’ve read many books regarding this topic. This one I’ll allow my teens to read.

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49 people found this helpful

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    4 out of 5 stars
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Great story, distracting narration

While this story really draws you in, the narration, and in particular the editing of the narration is very distracting, with the voice changing mid-sentence or mid-thought for no particular reason, it sounds almost as if two different narrators were spliced together randomly.

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    2 out of 5 stars
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Terrible editing or terrible narrator

The narrator’s voice seems to change mid-sentence, like the sound engineer discovered they were misreading a sentence and dubbed over it later. Very distracting!

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38 people found this helpful

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    3 out of 5 stars
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Heavy, gut wrenching tale

I wish I would have read some reviews about this book before listening to it. What each person in the story went through is incredibly horrifying and terribly sad. They were brave, heroic in the will to resist by getting up each day and living. Given to you from the perspective of a man without faith in God, it's a dark tale with focus on all the hideousness of human nature - cruelty, hopeless, fear, pain, sex and rape, foul language and disturbing imagery. All that happened in Lali's life was incredible. Just goes to show that truth is stranger than fiction. Overall it's an incredible story that gives an excellent glimpse into life in the camps. Just be for-warned and prepared that it will haunt you, darken your days as you listen to it, and you'll need to grapple with your own frailty in stemming the tides of pain and sin in this world. It reminds me of the books, "All the Light was cannot See" and "Lilac Girls." Again, WWII from a perspective without faith. Such contract to books like, "The Hiding Place" or "The Guernsey Literary..." Lali was so courageous to keep going, and to help so many in the camps at personal risk.

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37 people found this helpful