Themes
Key
LitCharts assigns a color and icon to each theme in The Tattooist of Auschwitz, which you can use to track the themes throughout the work.
Survival and Morality
Faith, Love, and Optimism
Unity, Sacrifice, and Empathy
Knowledge, Uncertainty, and Power
Summary
Analysis
On the way to work the next day, Baretski asks Lale if he will round up a team of prisoners to face off against the officers in a game of soccer. Baretski says that he and his friends need entertainment, and though this is the last thing Lale wants to provide for Baretski and his wretched colleagues, he agrees to assemble a team. Later that day, after distributing food to various parts of the camp (giving some to the Romany people, some to Block 7, and some to Gita and her friends), Lale addresses the men in Block 7 and he asks them to play a game of soccer. Many hate this idea, but others like it, noting that they know prisoners who played professionally before coming to the camps. Therefore, Lale is able to put together a team of willing and eager participants.
That Baretski and his friends want to play soccer calls attention to just how little they care about the terrible deeds they’re helping carry out. Instead of feeling sorry for their actions, they’re hung up on the fact that life in the camps is boring. Furthermore, their desire to play soccer highlights their youth and naïveté, reminding readers that Baretski and many of the other officers are little more than boys. Needless to say, this does not absolve them of the heinous cruelties they’ve committed—instead, it simply underlines the absurd fact that such irresponsible young men have been given obscene amounts of power over entire demographics of people.
Themes
On the day of the game against the officers, Lale addresses his teammates in a huddle and he tells them that under no circumstances can they let themselves win, despite the fact that several of them have played professionally. This disappoints some of the men, but Lale insists that it would be dangerous to embarrass the SS officers, and everyone agrees. Within 10 minutes, though, the prisoners are winning by two goals, so they let off for the rest of the half, allowing the officers to tie them. Then, during the next half, they score once more, but so do the officers. In fact, the officers go on to get two more points because the prisoners are too malnourished to keep their energy up. In the end, then, the officers win without the prisoners even having to throw the game.
The dynamic at play during the soccer game spotlights the power imbalance between the guards and the prisoners. Even when the prisoners think they might be able to win, they know that they can’t do this because to beat the officers would be to put their own lives in danger. As a result, the game itself is nothing more than a charade, one that the Nazis use to reaffirm their sense of dominance over an altogether powerless group of men. And yet, Lale and his fellow prisoners know they must agree to play the game, understanding that it is sometimes necessary to sacrifice their pride in order to survive.
Themes
After the game, Lale finds Gita and he goes with her behind the administration building, where she lies in the grass and she searches for four-leaf clovers. When Lale asks Gita what she’s doing, she explains that the SS officers are extremely superstitious and that they will often refrain from beating prisoners if they present them with a clover. After kissing each other, Lale and Gita return to the main part of the compound, and Lale notices from afar that Cilka looks unwell. When Lale asks what’s wrong with her, though, Gita refuses to tell him, insisting that—regardless of what Lale says to the contrary—he is unable to help Cilka.
The four-leaf clovers that Gita and her fellow prisoners find have actual tangible value in the camps, but they also represent one of the few avenues of hope available to the prisoners. Indeed, finding four-leaf clovers is one of the only ways that the prisoners can protect themselves, so they search for them with high hopes. For other matters, prisoners depend upon people like Lale, whose position allows him to help others from time to time. Unfortunately, though, there are limits to what Lale can do for other prisoners, which is why Gita doesn’t tell him that Schwarzhuber has likely started assaulting Cilka on a regular basis after the first incident of rape. Gita knows that, try as he might, Lale won’t be able to do anything to save Cilka from this terrible fate.
Themes
