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
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.
Right after Lale successfully escapes the Nazis, he finds himself taken hostage by the Russians. It’s worth noting that the Russians are the ones fighting against the Nazis and forcing them to liberate the people in the concentration camps. And yet, these particular Russian soldiers don’t seem to care about the fact that Lale has been a prisoner in Auschwitz-Birkenau for three years, instead focusing on whatever it is they think they can use him for. In this way, Lale’s knowledge actually works against him for the first time in the novel, since his ability to speak so many languages is what makes him desirable to the Russians.
Themes
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.
The Russians are forcing Lale to work for them without compensation—in this regard, Lale is still a prisoner. However, he at least gets to enjoy the luxury of the chalet, finding himself in a much better environment than he was in before escaping. All the same, it’s obvious that this is not the life Lale envisioned when he vowed to himself that he’d survive the concentration camps. The question becomes, then, how he will manage to survive this posting and, ultimately, how he will track down Gita.
Themes
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.”
Although Lale is safer than he was in the concentration camps, his life is still plagued by uncertainty. In particular, he yearns to know what has become of Gita, undoubtedly worrying that she may not have survived. However, this constant sense of worry doesn’t keep him from considering his immediate circumstances, especially when he attempts to discern whether or not the women he convinces to come to the chalet are “distressed.” Indeed, the fact that they don’t seem “distressed” is comforting to Lale because it means he doesn’t have to feel particularly guilty about his role as the Russians’ “pimp,” though the position is yet another one that challenges his moral outlook and one that forces him to refigure his conception of right and wrong in order to survive.
Themes
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.
Lale enjoys quite a bit of leniency with the Russians, who treat him like something in between a prisoner and a fellow soldier. This is a testament to Lale’s ability to charm his captors, once more drawing on his linguistic skills and his friendliness to put himself in the best possible position—a position in which he’s able to convince his personal guard that he’s not stealing jewels when it’s quite obvious that he is. Once again, then, readers see the ways in which knowledge and human connection can translate to a kind of power that ultimately makes it easier to thrive in the face of hardship.
Themes
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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.
Lale finds himself capable of easily escaping the Russians precisely because he tricks them into trusting him. He not only impresses them with his linguistic skills (which is why they took him hostage in the first place), but he also does a good job as their liaison with the local women. More importantly, though, Lale has clearly established a camaraderie of sorts with Friedrich, using his charm to endear himself to the man when they drive to town together. As a result, he puts himself in a position to finally get the freedom he deserves.
Themes
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.
For the past three years, very few people have helped Lale. In fact, he has mostly had to fend for himself, even with the network of friends and connections he made in the concentration camps. Consequently, it is a deeply touching moment when the stationmaster unexpectedly gives him food and coffee, deciding to give up his own dinner in order to help a downtrodden fellow human. This, of course, is the kind of empathy that has been missing from Lale’s life for far too long.
Themes
