The Tattooist of Auschwitz

Lale wakes up and he makes his way to a road, where he finds a group of Russian soldiers who pass him indifferently as he tries to explain that he’s been in a concentration camp for three years. Finally, one of them stops a jeep in front of him. When Lale explains that he’s been in Auschwitz-Birkenau, the only thing the Russian soldier driving the jeep seems to care about is that Lale speaks perfect Russian. When Lale tells him that he also speaks Czech, German, French, Hungarian, and Polish, the Russian officer tells him that he has a job for him, ordering him to get into the jeep. Lale wants to run but he knows it would be futile, so he does as he’s told, and the officer drives him to the large chalet that the soldiers have turned into their headquarters.

At the chalet, Lale is informed that he’ll be serving as a liaison between the Russian soldiers and the women in the nearby town. Showing Lale to a fancy room, a Russian officer tells him to bathe himself and choose anything he wants from a closet of beautiful clothing. Left to his own devices, Lale appreciates the luxury of his surroundings, taking a long and restorative bath before dressing in a nice suit. After a while, a Russian soldier named Friedrich comes to his room. Friedrich’s job, Lale learns, is to guard him. He will also be driving Lale to the nearby town every day, where Lale will be acting as the Russians’ “pimp” by offering beautiful young women money and jewels to come to the chalet at night to party with the soldiers. Every morning, Lale will select jewels and currency from a vault and bring them to town.

That evening, Lale eats a decadent meal in his room, though he wonders how he can enjoy it when he doesn’t know where Gita is or if she’s all right. The next morning, Friedrich takes Lale to the vault, where he selects jewels and another Russian officer writes down what he’s taken, telling him to return whatever he doesn’t use. In town, Lale finds it easy to convince women to come to the chalet, since many of them have already been and are eager to go again because of the precious items they’ll receive in return. At the end of the day, Lale returns the jewels he didn’t use, though he hides a single diamond in the cuff of his pants. That night, he stays in his room and he listens to the party below, noting that the women downstairs seem drunk but not “distressed.”

Over the next few weeks, Lale falls into a routine with Friedrich and he even develops a positive reputation in town, as many of the women take a liking to him and his affable manner. While looking at his collection of stolen jewels on the bed one evening, Lale is surprised to hear a knock on the door. After sweeping the covers over the jewels, he opens the door to find Friedrich, who asks Lale if he’d like to spend time with one of the women downstairs. After Lale refuses, Friedrich notices a ruby on the floor and he asks why it’s there. Lale says that it must have gotten stuck in the lining of his pockets, pointing out that he wouldn’t have been so careless with it if he’d actually stolen it. This convinces Friedrich, who takes the jewel and says he’ll return it.

Going on, Friedrich says that he’s being transferred and that Lale will now be driving himself into town each day. Because Lale has proven his trustworthiness, the Russian general has no problem sending him to town on his own. Having said this, Friedrich shakes Lale’s hand, and Lale tells him that he has enjoyed their conversations each day on the drive to town. The next day, Lale takes extra jewels and money and he tells the officer overseeing the valuables that he’ll be back late because he wants to make a stop at the library. Having said this, he sets out toward town, where he parks the jeep, gets out, finds a bike, and rides away. After a few miles, he encounters a Russian soldier who steals the bike but who doesn’t stop Lale from continuing on foot.

Bound for Slovakia, Lale walks all through the night until he reaches a train station, where he pays the “stationmaster” two diamonds to let him board a waiting train. Thanking Lale, the stationmaster tells him to board the car at the end, where nobody will bother him. He then gives Lale a sandwich and some coffee that his wife made for him—a gesture that fills Lale’s eyes with tears. By the following morning, Lale steps onto a platform in Slovakia and he knows that he’s home.