I choose this book as the first book of a new book club I have started. I choose it because my boyfriends mother recommended it to me, and wow was she right, I could hardly put it down. I think I read it in every free moment I had in a 24 hour period.
This is a true story, with a little historical/fictional embellishment. All the major historical details are correct, but some of the timelines are a little changed for ease of reading. Additionally since this is story in dedication to love it has a little of embellishment on the romance I am sure.
Lale is a jewish man who becomes the tattooist of Auschwitz, a privileged but dangerous position, he tattoos the number on the arm of a beautiful girl, Gita, and he spends the rest of his time romancing and protecting her as best he can. This is the type of story I love, WWII always draws me in, the audacity of the Nazi's and the human carnage they left in their wake. Yet there are just as many stories of human kindness and bravery fighting the horrors as there are horror stories. I admire the survivors of the concentration camps, not only for surviving but because many did not allow their humanity to be taken from them. I admire the stories of those that helped smuggle and protect the Nazi persecuted people, not just Jewish, because they did not say it's too hard. They said this is wrong, and it's hard, but what small things can I do, and often the small things compounded to greatness. This story encompasses all those. It was beautifully written and real pleasure to read.
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