Baretski Quotes in The Tattooist of Auschwitz
“Very nice,” Baretski says as he and Lale walk away. Lale ignores him and fights to control the hatred he feels.
“Would you like to meet her?” Again, Lale refuses to respond.
“Write to her, tell her you like her.”
How stupid does he think I am?
“I’ll get you paper and a pencil and bring her your letter. What do you say? Do you know her name?”
4562.
Lale walks on. He knows that the penalty for a prisoner caught with a pen or paper is death.
Lale turns to him. “Do you have a sister?”
“Yeah,” says Baretski, “two.”
“Is how you treat women the way you want other men to treat your sisters?”
“Anyone does that to my kid sister and I’ll kill them.” Baretski pulls his pistol from its holster and fires several shots into the air. “I’ll kill them.”
Lale finds out that Baretski isn’t German but was born in Romania, in a small town near the border of Slovakia, only a few hundred miles from Lale’s hometown of Krompachy. He ran away from home to Berlin and joined the Hitler Youth and then the SS. He hates his father, who used to beat him and his brothers and sisters viciously. He is worried about his sisters, one younger, one older, who still live at home.
Later that night as they walk back to Birkenau, Lale says quietly, “I’ll take your offer of paper and pencil, if you don’t mind. Her number is 4562.”
Baretski Quotes in The Tattooist of Auschwitz
“Very nice,” Baretski says as he and Lale walk away. Lale ignores him and fights to control the hatred he feels.
“Would you like to meet her?” Again, Lale refuses to respond.
“Write to her, tell her you like her.”
How stupid does he think I am?
“I’ll get you paper and a pencil and bring her your letter. What do you say? Do you know her name?”
4562.
Lale walks on. He knows that the penalty for a prisoner caught with a pen or paper is death.
Lale turns to him. “Do you have a sister?”
“Yeah,” says Baretski, “two.”
“Is how you treat women the way you want other men to treat your sisters?”
“Anyone does that to my kid sister and I’ll kill them.” Baretski pulls his pistol from its holster and fires several shots into the air. “I’ll kill them.”
Lale finds out that Baretski isn’t German but was born in Romania, in a small town near the border of Slovakia, only a few hundred miles from Lale’s hometown of Krompachy. He ran away from home to Berlin and joined the Hitler Youth and then the SS. He hates his father, who used to beat him and his brothers and sisters viciously. He is worried about his sisters, one younger, one older, who still live at home.
Later that night as they walk back to Birkenau, Lale says quietly, “I’ll take your offer of paper and pencil, if you don’t mind. Her number is 4562.”
