The Tattooist of Auschwitz: Chapter 26 Summary & Analysis

Lale is taken to a concentration camp in Mauthausen, Austria. A fellow prisoner tells Lale that he’s been there before, noting that although it isn’t as bad as Auschwitz-Birkenau, it’s still quite dangerous. When the SS officers search the prisoners the following morning, Lale takes three big diamonds from a collection of jewels he snuck out of Birkenau and he puts them beneath his tongue, throwing the rest of them in the snow behind his new block. Back in line, he sticks his tongue out before the inspecting officer even asks him to, and the man walks away without further scrutiny. In the coming weeks, the prisoners have nothing to do, so Lale closely watches the guards and he identifies which of them are approachable. In this way, Lale befriends one of them, impressing him with his flawless German.  

The officer Lale befriends has never been to Auschwitz-Birkenau but he’s curious to hear about the camps, so Lale endears himself to the officer by talking about his experience there, though he only talks about the work he did. He also says that he likes to work instead of sitting around doing nothing, so the guard asks if he’d like to be transferred to a “subcamp” in Vienna, adding that the camp has better “conditions” than this one and that the officer in charge is too old to care about what happens. Thinking it over, Lale accepts the offer, though the guard warns him to keep his tattoo hidden because the subcamp doesn’t allow Jewish prisoners. Thanking him, Lale gives him a diamond and he says, “Now you can’t say you never got anything from a Jew.” 

At the new camp in Vienna, Lale keeps to himself, but people eventually find out that he was the tattooist at Auschwitz-Birkenau. Before long, two SS officers summon him and they bring him to the camp’s commandant, who asks if he’s Jewish. Lale claims that he’s Catholic, but the commandant doesn’t believe him. Still, Lale doesn’t lose his nerve, even saying that he’ll prove he’s not Jewish. Just as he’s about to remove his pants to show the officers his penis, the commandant stops Lale and he lets him go. Outside, Lale feels dizzy with adrenaline and he suddenly realizes that the Nazis have stolen three years of his life. “You will not have one more day,” he thinks, enraged. With this in mind, Lale finds a weak spot in the fence, lifts it up, and slips away without even checking to see if anyone’s watching.

Lale hurries into the nearby forest. After walking for a while, he hears gunfire and assumes it must be coming from Russians or Americans. While crossing a stream, he realizes that the gun shots are going above his head, so he lets himself drift for a while until he’s out of harm’s way, at which point he pushes himself onto the banks and he falls asleep.