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 report to work one day to discover that they’ll be tattooing a group of people Baretski refers to as “Gypsies.” Among these new arrivals are many kids, and when Lale asks if they’re really expected to tattoo mere children, Baretski tells him that they will tattoo whomever they’re told to tattoo. When Baretski walks away, Leon says that he can’t possibly do this. Thankfully, though, they learn that they don’t actually have to tattoo the children, though Lale still feels sorry for the mothers who sit before him. That same day, an SS officer takes Cilka and he drags her down the hall as Gita tries not to show her distress. Thrown into a nearby room, Cilka looks up to find a large bed. She also discovers that Schwarzhuber, the leader of Birkenau, is standing above her. As Cilka tries not to protest, Schwarzhuber rapes her.
The horror of life at Auschwitz-Birkenau is on full display in this section of the novel, as Lale struggles to conceive of the fact that there are many children and families coming to the camps. In addition, Cilka is forced to endure a terrible fate at the hands of Birkenau’s most powerful SS officer, an incredibly traumatic incident that emphasizes just how little power the prisoners have when it comes to their own safety. Knowing that to resist Schwarzhuber would only make things worse, Cilka endures his sexual violence without a word, sensing that this is the only path to survival.
Themes
The “Gypsies” Lale tattooed end up moving into his building, meaning that he’s no longer the only resident in his block, though he still has a private room. Many of these new arrivals are children, and Lale learns that he can communicate with the families by speaking a “bastardized form” of Hungarian. When he shows his new neighbors his room, he tells them they aren’t allowed to enter it under any circumstances, privately worrying that—because of what he thinks he knows about “Gypsy culture”—they might steal his jewels and money. At the same time, Lale also promises them that he’ll tell them anything he hears about what is to become of them. When they tell Lale that they’ve never spoken to a Jewish person before, he points out that he’s never spoken to a “Gypsy.”
Today, the term “Gypsy” is considered an outdated slur that bears negative connotations, but Lale doesn’t seem to know that the word could be offensive. Or, if he does, the knowledge doesn’t stop him from using the word, since he clearly has certain unexamined prejudices against his new neighbors. Assuming that they will steal his jewels and money, Lale tells them not to enter his room, thereby perpetuating a divisive worldview that is rather similar to the one that led to Lale’s own imprisonment as a Jewish man. At the same time, though, Lale appears willing to interact with his new neighbors in a relatively friendly manner, meaning that he will most likely find it within himself to overcome his prejudice.
Themes
