The Tattooist of Auschwitz by Heather Morris

The book is based on the true love and survival story of Lali Sokolov. In the introduction, the author introduces us to the fact that it is a literary work based on the testimony of a prisoner after leaving Auschwitz concentration camp.

The author of the book is a film scriptwriter and writer. In 2003, she was introduced to someone who probably had something to tell. As they became friends, Lali entrusted her with the secret experience of living in a concentration camp.

The story itself, its development is quite predictable. 1942 Lali Sokolov, a Jew from Slovakia, is deported to the Auschwitz concentration camp, where he is greeted with an inscription on the gate in German: “Work will set you free.”

By becoming a tattooer who makes the numbers’ tattoo for incoming prisoners, Leil seems safer and better – because he knows every day what day it is.

One day, he marks the scared prisoner Gita’s hand with a number 4562 and falls in love with her. This is how their love story begins, in seemingly impossible circumstances. But it is their love that makes them determined to stay alive.

The importance of reading books is emphasized very nicely throughout the story. For a long time now, in Auschwitz, Lali remembers how his mother farewell him down at the train station. To help him make things up, she took out Lali’s clothes from his suitcase and put books in their place, saying “they’ll comfort you and remind you of your home, wherever you are …”

The phrase “He who saves one life, saves the whole world” is mentioned many times throughout the book.

This clearly shows the importance of rescuing at least one person in these circumstances, so that you can continue to be human.

© Fortune, 2009