Controversy surrounding the series about Auschwitz. The creators assure that “selected scenes will be changed”

The SkyShowtime platform announced the premiere of the series “The Tattooist of Auschwitz”. The production was based on the controversial book of the same title by Heather Morris. The author of the novel was often accused of being inconsistent with historical records.

According to Dr. Wanda Witek-Malicka from the Auschwitz-Birkenau Museum Research Center, controversy was to be aroused primarily by those fragments of the novel that had no real reflection in reality. “The book describes many events that had no right to happen at all. Starting from the murder of prisoners in a bus converted into a gas chamber, into which an SS man poured some corrosive substance causing the death of prisoners, through maintaining a semi-open (or almost completely open) sexual relationship between a prisoner and an SS man,” said the expert in an interview with Onet.

The creators of the series assure, however, that they are perfectly aware of the problems of the novel itself. The SkyShowtime statement published by Onet’s editorial staff shows that each episode of the production will be preceded by a board explaining the context of the presented events and their changes for plot purposes. In addition, the creators corrected some of the scenes described in the novel.

“Many of the inaccuracies that were pointed out in the novel have been corrected, and because this is a drama series, other elements have also been changed for story purposes,” the article reads. “Another example is the scene in which Lali gets penicillin for Gita, who had an infected arm. Today we know that penicillin was not available in Auschwitz, so we replaced it in the series with the antibacterial agent used in this scene,” add the creators of the series.

The premiere of “The Tattooist of Auschwitz” is scheduled for June 7, 2024 on SkyShowtime. The cast included Harvey Keitel, Melanie Lynskey and Polish actress Anna Próchniak.