Book Review- The Tattooist of Auschwitz

" If you wake up in the morning, it is a good day".

The tattooist of Auschwitz- it was on my wishlist from before its release. This book is not about Auschwitz, this book is about the impossible lovestory that bloomed inside that place, it won't be over-statement to say that living was impossible. The story of Lale and Gita and their lovestory inside may be the most cursed place humankind has ever experienced.

Lale Sokolov was a Slovakian Jew and more importantly a 'survivor'. He knew how to survive and he luckily made some connections. He apologized to people often while tattooing the numbers on their arms. It is during this process one day, he saw Gita and fell in love.

As the author herself said, Lale's memory was intact and crisp clear about his days in Auschwitz and later when she fact checked, all his records came out to be absolutely on point. However, his recollection was not linear and the author had to fill up the blanks with imagination at time. Well, the book says it's a fiction based on a compelling true story.

More than anything, The Tattooist of Auschwitz shows the desire to live and survive. Even when thousands are being killed and the conditions are beyond horrific, that passion to survive comes through. The desire to meet their loved ones for a few minutes and the hardship to do that, the hardship to love anyone inside that living hell, came through.

I finished reading this book at 2:15am in the night and to my surprise I found myself crying a little. Yes, this is no diary of what really happened inside those camps but how their love went through the hardship. It was heart-wrenching, emotional and profound. Love can make things endurable probably.