“Shortly after arriving there, Lali becomes one of the tattoo artists responsible for putting identification numbers on the arms of fellow prisoners. One day he meets Gita (Anna Próchniak), whom he tattoos a prison number on her arm. Lali and Gita fall in love at first sight – this is how it begins this unforgettable story about feelings and courage,” we read in the description of the six-episode production. Harvey Keitel played the role of the mature Sokolov in “The Tattooist of Auschwitz”. The music was written by Oscar winner Hans Zimmer (“Inception”, “Interstellar”, “Dune”) and Kara Talve.
The controversial “striped novel” now as a series
It is estimated that 13 million people have read the book on which the series is based. The premiere of “The Tattooist of Auschwitz” is considered to be the beginning of the popularity of controversial camp literature. These are novels promoted as “based on facts”, “inspired by real events”, “fictionalized stories” (less often actually biographies or reportages), often stylized as memoirs. What they have in common is the subject of concentration camps, forced labor camps and gulags from World War II, primarily related to Auschwitz.
One of the characteristic features appearing on the cover is the often used motif of stripes similar to the fabric of clothes worn in Nazi concentration camps (hence the other term: “striped novels”). . Unfortunately, authors often do not care enough about historical realities, and I will not comment on their literary talent here.
Camp literature promotional materials of publishing houses
“The Tattooist from Auschwitz” is the result of many hours of conversations between the author and Sokołów, who was sent to Auschwitz-Birkenau with the first transport in 1942 as a twenty-six-year-old. Morris decided to talk about his experiences only after his wife’s death in 2003. It was in the camp that they first talked, flirted and fell in love. After liberation, they found each other, got married and spent the rest of their lives together – first in Bratislava, and then in exile in Australia. Sokolov died in 2006, the book was published only 12 years later.
Morris initially planned to write a screenplay, so it’s no wonder that – especially after the book’s excellent sales – one was created. Dr. Wanda Witek-Malicka for the Auschwitz Museum even notes that if one wonders about something at all, “it is not about why at all, but why it happened so late, because six years have passed since the book’s premiere.” However, at the beginning he points out that when he met the author, Sokolov was almost 90 years old.
“Of course, the very passage of time, even this long, and the fact that the memories have not been verbalized beforehand, much less written down, are not circumstances that depreciate the witness’s account. Nevertheless, a writer (reporter, researcher…) whose goal is to tell a biographical story must take this circumstance into account. If the writer’s ambition is not only to recreate the intersubjective experience and memory of the witness, but also to reconstruct his fate in the spirit of historical truth and factual reliability, then a particularly detailed critical analysis of these memories and confrontation with other sources is necessary in order to correct natural sources. memory errors,” notes Witek-Malicka, citing that Morris made such declarations many times in the book.
‘The tattooist from Auschwitz’. The series based on the best-selling novel by Heather Morris starts on June 7 on SkyShowtime Martin Mlaka / Sky UK / Martin Mlaka / Sky UK
On the other hand, when promoting the version with a series cover, the Polish publisher refers to the author’s words:
When writing down Lale’s fate, I focused on how memory and history sometimes go hand in hand and sometimes run on separate tracks. I didn’t want another history lesson, I rather wanted it to be a unique lesson in humanity.
“Such a Holocaust will become light, easy and pleasant.” What are the mistakes in “The Tattooist of Auschwitz”?
The filmmakers must have been aware of the controversy surrounding “The Tattooist of Auschwitz” and camp literature in general. The genre, also called “holo polo”, has received not only texts in the media, but also academic analysis. – Such a Holocaust will become light, easy and pleasant. Our memory will move away from traumatized memory, from memory that cannot be tamed. And the memory of the Holocaust can never be tamed – says Jacek Leociak.
Did the creators of the TV series “The Tattooist” cope with the task of reflecting historical realities more faithfully than Heather Morris? According to the Auschwitz Museum specialist, they stopped “in the middle”, trying to “soften” the book’s history in terms of facts and at the same time not to waste the marketing potential of the title. He emphasizes that the series presents a number of scenes and events that could not have happened in KL Auschwitz in reality or that could not have happened as the creators imagined it. “At the same time, some of these events are copies of the incorrect content of the book, but some seem to be the original ideas of the creators of the series,” writes Witek-Malicka.
On several dozen pages of his review, he draws attention to, among others: to the presence in the series of scenes shot at night with the participation of SS men, while they were never outside their working hours in the camp. The historical truth is also at odds with the main character’s free passage – without the guard’s control – through open gates in the camp or the scene of the shooting of prisoners in the courtyard of block 11, which – as the museum expert points out – looks different in reality, although the review generally praises production for the set design, costumes and props. He also appreciates the photos.
‘The tattooist from Auschwitz’. The series based on the best-selling novel by Heather Morris starts on June 7 on SkyShowtime Martin Mlaka / Sky UK / Martin Mlaka / Sky UK
On the plus side? Among other things, fewer erotic scenes and romantic walks
“Of course, the attempt to remove the novel’s threads that aroused the greatest controversy should be noticed and appreciated,” writes Witek-Malicka. In her opinion, unfortunately, in some cases, replacing elements that were inconsistent with history with others (e.g. changing the character of Dr. Mengele to Schuman) “in fact turned out to be replacing one fiction with another, no closer to reality.” He points out that the Holocaust is only a background for a love story.
The undoubted advantage of the series is the removal of some of the completely fanciful plots known from the book (such as Cilki’s blatant Roman with Schwartzhuber or the murder in a bus converted into a gas chamber), as well as moving away from the overly eroticized image of the relationship between Lali and Gita and reducing the number of erotic scenes, as well as the complete elimination of extremely inauthentic scenes of romantic walks of lovers holding hands, walking around the camp, or sitting on the grass, having long conversations and making plans for the future.
“Finally, what should be considered the best (most authentic) plot, and therefore the strongest point of the series, is the presentation of contemporary heroes,” writes the expert. He also notes that the series highlights the topic of camp trauma much more than the book. However, in her opinion, the didactic value of the production is questionable, although the creators assured that they had proofread some of the scenes described in the novel. Finally, the researcher emphasizes that the production is, after all, closer to the perspective proposed by the author of the book “The Tattooist of Auschwitz” than to the historical credibility and authenticity of the realities of KL Auschwitz.
The Auschwitz Museum has published a 20-page review of the six-episode “The Tattooist of Auschwitz”. All episodes will be available to watch exclusively on SkyShowtime from June 7. Tali Shalom-Ezer is the director of the series. As SkyShowtime previously announced, each episode will be preceded by a board explaining the context of the presented events and their changes for plot purposes.
Source: Gazeta
Bruce is a talented author and journalist with a passion for entertainment . He currently works as a writer at the 247 News Agency, where he has established himself as a respected voice in the industry.
