Lale Sokolov

Lale Sokolov was born Ludwig Eisenberg on 28 October 1916 in Korompa, Kingdom of Hungary (now Krompachy,[2] Slovakia).[3] In April 1942, he was deported to Auschwitz as part of the Slovak government's participation in the Holocaust.[2] Upon arrival at the extermination camp, he was tattooed with the number 32407.[2] He was set to work constructing housing blocks for the expanding camp but soon became ill with typhoid.[3] Having recovered, he was assigned as one of the camp's Tätowierer (tattooist).[3] As such, he was part of the Politische Abteilung and had an SS officer assigned to monitor him.[3] His job meant he was "a step further away from death than the other prisoners", and he received a number of benefits such as a single room, extra rations, and free time when his work had been completed.[3]

While in the camp, Sokolov met his future wife Gisela "Gita" Fuhrmannova. He was also involved in trading contraband with prisoners, SS officers, and locals.[3]

Eight days before the liberation of Auschwitz by Soviet troops on 27 January 1945, Sokolov was moved to Mauthausen concentration camp in Austria. At Mauthausen, some Czech prisoners, in gratitude for what he had done to help other prisoners in Auschwitz, swapped the Jewish star on his camp uniform for the red triangle of a political prisoner, and got him onto a transport to a camp run by the Wehrmacht rather than the SS in Wiener Neustadt, where Sokolov would be safer. When he was denounced for being Jewish by a fellow prisoner, he successfully denied the revelation and incited two allies to murder his betrayer in the steel mill's rollers.[4] He escaped that concentration camp, and returned to Slovakia. Knowing only Gita Fuhrmannova's name, he went to Bratislava, the main entry point for returning survivors, to search for her.[3] The couple married later in 1945, and he changed his surname from Eisenberg to the more Russian-sounding Sokolov.[3] He then opened a factory in Bratislava.[2][3] During this time, he was involved in collecting money in support of the creation of the State of Israel.[3] This activity and the nationalization of industry by Czechoslovakia's then communist government, resulted in him being imprisoned and having his business seized.[3] He was subsequently released and the couple emigrated to Australia in 1948.[2]

In Australia, Sokolov and his wife settled in Melbourne and opened up a clothing factory.[2] Their only child, Gary, was born in 1961.[3] Though his wife visited Europe a number of times, Sokolov never returned.[3] Following Gita's death in 2003, he finally felt able to speak about his war-time experience having feared that he would be perceived as a collaborator.[2][3]

He was interviewed by journalist Heather Morris over the next three years, resulting in the publication of The Tattooist of Auschwitz in 2018.[5][6] While the book was billed as historical fiction, it generated controversy because of a perception that its marketing and content suggested historical accuracy despite departures from the truth and presenting a hagiographic rendition of a complicated biography.[4] Sokolov died in 2006, and is survived by his son.[3]

• List of victims and survivors of Auschwitz

• Morris, Heather (2018). The Tattooist of Auschwitz: based on the heart-breaking true story of love and survival. London: Zaffre Publishing. ISBN 978-1785763649. (novel)
• Kenneally, Christine. "The Fabulist of Auschwitz: Heather Morris’s bestselling novels ‘The Tattooist of Auschwitz’ and ‘Cilka’s Journey’, and the problem of truth in historical fiction." The Monthly, Feb. 2020. Retrieved March 6, 2021.
• USC Shoah Foundation Visual History Archive Program