{"id":50624,"date":"2024-05-02T09:00:18","date_gmt":"2024-05-02T07:00:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.radiotimes.com\/?p=2034232"},"modified":"2024-05-02T09:42:22","modified_gmt":"2024-05-02T07:42:22","slug":"is-the-tattooist-of-auschwitz-based-on-a-true-story","status":"publish","type":"rss_feed","link":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/radiotimes\/rss_feed\/is-the-tattooist-of-auschwitz-based-on-a-true-story\/","title":{"rendered":"Is The Tattooist of Auschwitz based on a true story?"},"content":{"rendered":"

The series chronicles how Auschwitz prisoner Lale Sokolov found love in the most harrowing of circumstances. <\/p>

By Jon O’Brien\n \t\t<\/p>

Published: Thursday, 02 May 2024 at 07:00 AM<\/p>

\n\n

Portrayed by Jonah Hauer-King in his wartime years and Harvey Keitel as an older man, Holocaust survivor Lale Sokolov is the subject of new prestige drama The Tattooist of Auschwitz<\/a>.<\/p>\n

The Sky Atlantic<\/a> original, which explores his relationship with fellow prisoner Gita Fuhrmannova, is based on the same-named 2018 best-selling novel by Heather Morris, who spent three years interviewing Lale for a tale which blurred the boundaries between history and historical fiction.<\/p>\n

Indeed, the author was criticised by the Auschwitz Memorial Research Center for the book\u2019s depiction of life inside the concentration camp<\/a>, also noting some inaccuracies, including Gita\u2019s incorrect identification number and the anachronistic use of penicillin.<\/p>\n

Morris fought back, however, insisting<\/a> that \u201cNinety-five per cent of it is as it happened; researched and confirmed\u201d.<\/p>\n

Here\u2019s what we do know, for sure, about Lale\u2019s remarkable story<\/p>\n

The Tattooist of Auschwitz true story<\/strong><\/h2>\n

Origin story<\/strong><\/h2>\n
\"Jonah\n<\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/picture>\n<\/div>
Jonah Hauer-King as Lali Sokolov in Auschwitz.<\/span><\/figcaption> Sky<\/i><\/span><\/div>\n

Born Ludwig Eisenberg in the Slovakian town of Krompachy in 1916, Lale was working as a department store manager in Bratislava when World War II broke out.<\/p>\n

On learning that Nazis were sending all his hometown\u2019s Jewish people to camps, he returned to the family home and volunteered himself to the local authority, hoping this would guarantee the safety of his mother, father and siblings (unbeknownst to Lale, his parents were taken to Auschwitz and killed<\/a> a month before his own arrival).<\/p>\n

Lale was transported to the concentration camp in April 1942 and immediately put to work on its housing block construction. Soon after, he contracted typhoid. But during his recovery, he was mentored by a French academic named Pepan, the same man who\u2019d inked his ID number of 32407 onto his forearm on arrival.<\/p>\n

When Pepan suddenly disappeared, Lale was appointed as his replacement, as an official member of the Politische Abteilung (aka the Concentration Camp Gestapo).<\/p>

The job of the tetovierer (the tattooist) sheltered him further from the many horrors his fellow prisoners witnessed or experienced. It also came with several benefits, including additional rations, spare time and his own bedroom.<\/p>\n

Lale tried to use these for the greater good, often handing out his extra food to those who needed it more and trading with local villagers for contraband he could distribute back into camp.<\/p>\n

And there was one particular individual who he did his utmost best to care for.<\/p>\n

Meeting Gita<\/strong><\/h2>\n
\"Lale\n<\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/picture>\n<\/div>
Jonah Hauer-King as Lali Sokolov as Anna Pr\u00f3chniak as Gita Furman in Auschwitz.<\/span><\/figcaption> Martin Mlaka \/ Sky UK<\/i><\/span><\/div>\n

Lale first set eyes on Gita in July 1942 while she was lining up to get tattooed, a practice designed to rob hundreds of thousands of prisoners of their identities. Still only in his apprenticeship stage by then, the Slovakian initially hesitated to ink the 18-year-old, but was warned that if he didn\u2019t, his own life would be at risk (on one occasion, Angel of Death physician Josef Mengele told him<\/a>: \u201cOne day, tetovierer, I will take you \u2013 one day\u201d).<\/p>\n

The encounter left a lasting impression on Lale, and over the next three years, he did whatever he could to spend more time with her.<\/p>\n

With the help of his personal SS guard, Lale and Gita were able to exchange correspondence and on Sundays \u2013 prisoners\u2019 only day of rest \u2013 even enjoyed clandestine meetings outside her housing block.<\/p>\n

Their relationship looked to have ended when, shortly before Soviet troops liberated Auschwitz in January 1945, Lale was relocated to Austria\u2019s Mauthausen concentration camp. However, following a miraculous escape in which he evaded Russian and German crossfire while swimming the Danube, he found his way back to his homeland.<\/p>\n

He then set out on another seemingly mission impossible: to find the woman who\u2019d captured his heart.<\/p>\n

The reunion<\/strong><\/h2>\n
\"Lale\n<\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/picture>\n<\/div>
Harvey Keitel as Lale Sokolov in The Tattooist of Auschwitz.<\/span><\/figcaption> Martin Mlaka \/ Sky UK<\/i><\/span><\/div>\n

After journeying to Bratislava via horse and cart, Lale spent several weeks at the city\u2019s railway station \u2013 an entry point for Holocaust survivors \u2013 without any luck, before he was told to try the Red Cross. In a remarkable coincidence, he spotted Gita en route and they instantly reconnected.<\/p>\n

By the end of the year, the pair had walked down the aisle together and shortly after, they set up a silk fabric factory. Sadly, they had to wait a few more years to get a truly happy ending.<\/p>\n

Indeed, the Soviet-controlled Czech government confiscated all of Lale\u2019s assets and imprisoned him after discovering he\u2019d been donating money to support the movement for an Israeli state.<\/p>\n

On his release, Lale and Gita were advised to leave the country, and following brief spells in Paris and Vienna, they ended up settling in Melbourne in 1948.<\/p>\n

Starting from scratch again, the couple opened a ladies\u2019 clothing factory and in 1961 became parents, with the birth of only child Gary.<\/p>\n

Lale largely kept quiet about his harrowing past, over fears he\u2019d be viewed as a Nazi sympathiser. Yet, following Gita\u2019s death in 2003, he felt able to unburden himself and revealed all to Morris.<\/p>\n

Lale had planned to return to Europe for the first time in more than half a century to further help conquer his demons, but sadly in 2006, he passed away.<\/p>\n

Speaking to Publishers Weekly<\/a> about the book that arrived 12 years later, Morris said: \u201cHe wrongly felt it was his fault that he couldn\u2019t save the souls who died there. Lale\u2019s motto in Auschwitz was, \u2018If you wake up in the morning, it is a good day.\u2019<\/p>\n

\u201cHe believed you owed it to yourself and those around you to make the day the best it could be.\u201d<\/p>\n