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 walk to Auschwitz, Lale learns that Baretski is a year younger than him and that Baretski is very interested in women. Hearing this, Lale shares stories about his own exploits with women. He then gives Baretski advice about how to endear himself to a woman, asking if he’s ever given a woman flowers. The idea of this is absurd to Baretski, who thinks his friends would laugh at him. He also admits that he just wants to have sex with women, so Lale starts walking ahead of him. When Baretski catches up, he asks if he said something wrong, and Lale says he shouldn’t talk that way about women, asking Baretski what he’d do if someone said that about his sisters. Taking out his gun, Baretski fires into the air and he says he’d kill anyone who said such things about his sisters.
As Lale gets to know Baretski, he learns valuable information about him. This, in turn, gives Lale the chance to endear himself to the young man, thereby further securing his own safety. However, Baretski is still too unpredictable for Lale to feel safe, as evidenced by his sudden outburst in response to Lale’s question about how he’d feel if somebody sexually objectified his sisters. This reaction highlights Baretski’s failure to apply his standards to his own life, suggesting that he has trouble putting himself in other peoples’ shoes—a notion that makes a lot of sense, considering that his position as a Nazi underscores his failure to empathize with the people he’s persecuting.
Themes
In addition to talking about women, Lale learns that Baretski was born in Romania and that he ran away from home to join the SS. Baretski hates his abusive father but he worries about his two sisters at home. That night, Lale tells Baretski that he actually would like to write a letter to the female prisoner, telling him that the woman’s number is 4562. The following day, Baretski gives Lale a pencil and paper and he says that prisoner 4562 is in Block 29. Once Lale is alone again, he composes a very brief note: he introduces himself, talks about his home and his family, and says he’d like to meet the woman near the administration building the following Sunday. Confused that Lale hasn’t written more, Baretski agrees to deliver the letter.
As Baretski continues to confide in Lale, readers see that he is genuinely interested in sharing information about his life. By listening, then, Lale manages to endear himself to the officer, proving that even the most morally repugnant humans want someone to talk to. It is perhaps because Baretski genuinely opens up about his life that Lale decides to take him up on his offer to pass a note to prisoner 4562—in other words, although Lale most likely still doesn’t trust Baretski, he senses that the man won’t completely betray Lale by helping him write a letter and then punishing him for doing so.
Themes
The woman Lale wrote to doesn’t send a verbose response but she does give a note to Baretski. When Baretski passes this to Lale, he playfully suggests that Lale should find a new girlfriend. Still, the letter does give Lale information about her, like that she’s from Slovakia and that she works in a warehouse known as “Canada,” in which she and the other workers go through the belongings that the Nazis confiscate while processing new prisoners. She also agrees to meet Lale that Sunday but she forgets to include her name. The next day, Baretski tells Lale about his own girlfriend. Lale suggests that Baretski should read good books so that he can impress his girlfriend, but Baretski insists that he doesn’t need to do this because his girlfriend is already impressed by his uniform. He then impersonates the way she puts on his uniform and she pretends to be an SS officer.
As Lale gets to know Baretski, he continues to learn about the man’s life. Although Lale certainly dislikes the SS officer, he indulges Baretski by letting him open up about his private life. In doing so, he undoubtedly gives Baretski the impression that they are something like friends, though the power dynamic in their relationship remains unchanged. However, the strange relationship they develop does make it less and less likely that Baretski would ever be able to find it within himself to kill Lale. By simply listening and appearing to empathize with Baretski, then, Lale refigures their entire relational dynamic.
Themes
Frustrated, Lale blurts out that just because Baretski’s girlfriend likes his uniform doesn’t mean she likes him—a statement that causes Baretski to stop walking. Suddenly afraid, Lale forces himself to keep walking, bracing himself for a gunshot. But Baretski doesn’t shoot him. Instead, he runs up and he asks in an insecure voice if Lale really thinks his girlfriend only cares about his uniform. In response, Lale says that he wouldn’t know because he doesn’t know Baretski’s girlfriend, suggesting that Baretski tell him some more about what she’s like. As a result, Lale slowly learns that Baretski doesn’t know very much about his own partner because he hasn’t bothered to ask her questions, so Lale begins to give him advice about how to be a good boyfriend. As Lale does this, he inwardly recognizes that he doesn’t care what happens to Baretski, secretly hoping that the man doesn’t survive Auschwitz.
This interaction proves that listening to Baretski talk about his private life has given Lale the ability to speak to the man in a way that wouldn’t otherwise be tolerated. Although Lale nearly crosses the line by suggesting that Baretski’s girlfriend might not actually like him, Lale manages to escape Baretski’s wrath. This is because Baretski has come to respect Lale in a certain way, since Lale has let him talk and has offered him advice about women. In turn, readers see the significance of human connection, as Lale completely changes the dynamic of a prisoner-guard relationship simply by letting Baretski unload his personal insecurities.
Themes
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