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 and Leon work particularly long hours in the coming weeks, since there are so many new arrivals. During a long shift of tattooing, an incredibly large man sits down and he gives Lale his arm. As he does so, he whispers, “I’m very hungry.” Lale feels sorry for the man because of his hulking size—he recognizes that the man probably hasn’t eaten for days and that he needs more food than the average person. Lale tells the man to hide in a nearby patch of darkness, promising to fetch him when he’s finished tattooing the other prisoners. When the work is over, then, Lale lags until all of the SS officers have left, at which point he takes the man—whose name is Jakub—to his room and he gives him bread and sausage. Jakub tells Lale that he’s from America but that he was rounded up by the Nazis while visiting family in Poland.
Again, Lale goes out of his way to help somebody else. This time, though, there is no tangible benefit to himself. In the past, the people Lale has helped have been people he already knows—individuals about whom he cares. This time, though, he goes out of his way to help someone simply because he thinks it’s the right thing to do. By coming to Jakub’s aid, Lale demonstrates his commitment to supporting his fellow prisoners whenever he can, even if he’s never met them before. This, it seems, is how Lale has chosen to use his position as the tattooist for good.
Themes
Trying to reassure Jakub, Lale tells him that he’ll survive Auschwitz-Birkenau because of his size, saying that the Nazis will surely find work for him because they have a “knack for finding the right person for the right job.” Jakub tells Lale that he’s been assigned to Block 7, so Lale brings his new friend to his former block, sneaking him inside so that he’s there in the morning when the kapo calls his number.
Lale not only helps Jakub by giving him food, he also makes a point of trying to soothe his new friend on an emotional level. This is because Lale knows what it feels like to be plunged into a terrifying state of uncertainty upon arriving at Auschwitz-Birkenau. To ease this troublesome sense of uncertainty, then, Lale assures Jakub that he’ll be able to survive, thereby giving hope to a man who might otherwise find himself hopeless.
Themes
Lale hasn’t seen Gita for five weeks because he’s had so much work. Missing her, he walks out into the compound and he finds a group of men crowded around Jakub, who is heroically bending steel with his bare hands, performing for the onlookers. As he does this, Houstek approaches him and he watches for a moment before telling several SS officers to take him away. Shortly after this happens, Lale finally finds Gita and he takes her behind the administration building, where he puts a piece of chocolate in her mouth. After a moment, they kiss, and then Lale gives her more chocolate, which he tells her to share with the other girls in her block.
In keeping with the uncertainty that characterizes life in the concentration camps, Lale has no idea what happens to Jakub after Houstek takes him away. This lack of knowledge is common in Lale’s everyday life, which is perhaps why he chooses to focus on something else: his relationship with Gita. Indeed, when the two lovers sneak behind the administration building to eat chocolate, they decide to focus their emotional energies on the only positive dynamic available to them: their feelings for each other.
Themes
After parting ways with Gita, Lale comes across Baretski, who tells him that they need to go to Auschwitz to tattoo new prisoners. On the walk there, Lale notices that Baretski is in a remarkably bad mood, refusing to return the greetings of other SS officers who are overseeing several crews of prisoners working on the road. At one point, Lale and Baretski spot several prisoners resting in their path, and when they fail to move, Baretski takes out his gun and shoots them. Astounded, Lale stops, but Baretski simply continues walking. In his horror, Lale thinks back to the last time he saw such an unprovoked act of violence, when two officers murdered the three men going to the bathroom on his first night in the camp. Not wanting to upset Baretski, Lale runs after him.
This scene serves as a reminder that Baretski is a very dangerous and merciless man. Although he seems to have developed a certain fondness for Lale, there’s no denying that he’s capable of great evil. In keeping with this, Lale undoubtedly grasps in this moment that—however lenient Baretski might seem with him—the officer could easily turn on him without notice. Once more, then, Lale must face uncertainty, not knowing when or if Baretski will decide to kill him.
Themes
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