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
At work the next day, Lale is shocked to find that Leon has returned. In a soft voice, Leon greets Lale and Lale offers to give Leon extra food to build his strength back up. In response, Leon says that he’s lost his appetite because Mengele castrated him. Reeling in horror, Lale can’t believe his ears, but Leon apologizes for shocking Lale and he thanks him for his kind offer of food. As an SS officer approaches, Lale instructs his friend to go to his private room to rest and regain his strength, saying that Leon can start as his assistant when he’s strong enough to work again. To that end, Lale bribes the kapo of Block 7 to let Leon stay there during the coming days, allowing his friend to recover.
After hearing about Mengele’s horrific treatment of Leon, Lale’s reaction is to do whatever he can to help his friend. This makes sense, considering that Lale tries to help his fellow prisoners even when they haven’t just been through something as traumatic as castration. Once again, then, Lale demonstrates his empathy for the people around him, wanting to do whatever he can to support prisoners who have been less fortunate than him.
Themes
Because there are no new arrivals one day, Lale is told that he has the day off. Before Lale can go back to his room, though, Baretski finds him and he tells Lale that he no longer has time off because his assistance is needed. As Lale follows Baretski, he becomes increasingly nervous because they are headed toward Crematorium 3. Playing with Lale, Baretski asks if he’s worried, laughing at Lale’s fright. Before they reach the building, Baretski explains that two prisoners seem to have the same identification numbers and that the Nazis need Lale to distinguish one tattoo from the other. Entering the crematorium, Lale sees the Sonderkommando, whose job it is to dispose of the bodies of people who have been killed in the gas chambers. Lale feels a connection with these prisoners, knowing that they—like him—are doing whatever it takes to survive.
Baretski’s initial refusal to tell Lale why they’re going to the crematorium is cruel and unnecessary—a reminder that even though Baretski often shows a certain fondness for Lale, he is still quite heartless and mean. To put it another way, Baretski is unable to put himself in Lale’s shoes, effectively finding himself incapable of properly empathizing with other human beings. Lale, on the other hand, is an extremely empathetic person, which is why he feels somewhat connected to the Sonderkommando. The Sonderkommando are prisoners who have been ordered to remove dead bodies from the gas chambers, a gruesome job that affords them the same kind of perks that Lale receives as the tattooist. Rather than resenting these men for helping the Nazis with their extermination of Jewish prisoners, then, Lale imagines what it must be like to carry out such a wretched job, once more demonstrating his capacity to feel sympathy for other people.
Themes
Moving into the gas chamber, Lale sees piles of dead bodies and he’s hit by the horrid scent of the gas. Behind him, Baretski mutters, “Shit,” and this single utterance “from a sadist only deepens the well of inhumanity that Lale is drowning in.” At this point, an officer brings Lale to two dead men and he shows Lale their tattoos, asking why the numbers match. Studying the markings, Lale points out that an eight on one of the men’s forearms looks like a three because half of it has faded away. With this discrepancy cleared up, Lale leaves the crematorium without waiting to be dismissed.
Even Baretski is incapable of hiding his disgust at the magnitude of death in the gas chambers. And yet, Lale knows that Baretski is a “sadist,” a fact that only emphasizes how terrible these circumstances truly are. In this moment, then, it becomes clear that Baretski knows that what he and the other Nazis are doing is wrong. Even with this knowledge, though, Baretski continues to participate in the immoral agenda of the Nazi party.
Themes
Outside, Baretski hurries to catch up with Lale and, after a moment, he asks Lale if he’s all right. “No, I’m not fucking all right,” Lale says. “You bastards. How many more of us must you kill?” Baretski acknowledges that Lale is upset, and though Lale knows this man is nothing but “an uneducated kid,” he struggles to understand how Baretski doesn’t feel the horror of what they’ve just seen. As they continue to walk, Baretski makes a cruel joke, saying that Lale must be the only Jewish person to have “walked into an oven and then walked back out of it.” Laughing to himself, Baretski sets off on his own.
Although Baretski seems to have registered the horror that he and Lale witnessed in the gas chambers, Lale clearly senses that the man doesn’t feel genuine remorse. Instead, Baretski fails to realize the gravity of the persecution he and his fellow Nazis are committing. In turn, it becomes obvious that Baretski’s capacity for empathy is deeply flawed, as he is able to make a joke not only about the horror he’s just seen, but the way that this horror affects Lale. In doing so, Baretski demonstrates his callousness while simultaneously reminding Lale that Lale himself could someday suffer the same wretched fate as the Jewish prisoners they just saw splayed out in the gas chamber.
Themes
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