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This book is a good reminder for us to be grateful for the things we have in life and to all the possibilities we have now. This story is "based on the true story" of a Jewish-Slovakian man shipped off to a camp—in Auschwitz.

<blockquote>“How can a race spread out across multiple countries be considered a threat?”</blockquote>

<blockquote>“Choosing to live is an act of defiance, a form of heroism.”</blockquote>
Plot:
While it certainly depicts the conditions of Jews in concentration camps, the abhorrent & inhumane acts of the Nazis well enough *shudders at the thought of gas chambers, concentration camps, electrified wires, treatment of people —women & men in the camps etc.*, BUT there was inaccuracy in a lot of other events.
(Refer this: https://www.theguardian.com/books/2018/dec/07/the-tattooist-of-auschwitz-attacked-as-inauthentic-by-camp-memorial-centre).
I can concede somewhat with this —since this is "historical FICTION".

As far as I understand (after a bit of research on Auschwitz):
During the Holocaust, concentration camp prisoners received tattoos only at one location, the Auschwitz concentration camp complex, which consisted of Auschwitz I (Main Camp), Auschwitz II (Auschwitz-Birkenau- where the gas chambers were - extermination facility), and Auschwitz III (Monowitz and the subcamps- forced labour camps). Incoming prisoners were assigned a camp serial number which was sewn to their prison uniforms. Only those prisoners selected for work were issued serial numbers; those prisoners sent directly to the gas chambers were not registered and received no tattoos.
The tattooing was phased in from the autumn of 1941 on, and even at its height did not include all prisoners.
Exceptions to this practice were prisoners of German nationality and “reeducation prisoners,” who were held in a separate compound.
How all of it worked: Trains would pick up Jews "like cattle" in one of Ghettos. SS-High command would decide which Ghettos to "liquidate" and focus there. Additionally, Soviet Prisoners of War, the Polish, Gypsies, Romani's, other anti-German people, & other Europeans were sent to the camp directly from SS or Gestapo holding facilities. Each train could hold 1000-1200 people. Once people arrived their fate was decided.
If you want to read further, it might cost a good night's worth sleep, so please, proceed with caution.

One of the Sonderkammando’ s named Filip Muller explains what he saw- it’s a long quote but important to read.

<blockquote>When they reached the undressing room they saw that it looked like an International Information Centre. On the walls were hooks,and each hook had a number. Beneath the hooks were wooden benches. So people could undress more comfortably, it was said.

And on the numerous pillars that held up this underground undressing room, there were signs with slogans in several languages – “Clean is Good”,” Lice can kill”, “Wash Yourself”, “To the disinfection area”. All those signs were only there to lure people into the gas chambers already undressed – and to the left, at a right angle, was the gas chamber with its massive door.

In Crematoriums II and III, Zyklon B gas crystals were poured in by a so-called SS disinfection squad through the ceiling, and in Crematorium IV and V through side openings. With five or six canisters of gas they could kill around two thousand people.

This so-called disinfection squad arrived in a truck marked with a red cross and escorted people along to make them believe they were being led to take a bath. But the red cross was only a mask to hide the canisters of Zyklon B gas and the hammers to open them.

The gas took about fifteen minutes to kill. The most horrible thing was when the doors of the gas chambers were opened – the unbearable sight – people were packed together like basalt, like blocks of stone. How they tumbled out of the gas chamber.

“You see, once the gas was poured in, it worked like this: it rose from the ground upwards. And in the terrible struggle that followed – because it was a struggle – the lights were switched off in the gas chambers. It was dark, no one could see, so the strongest people tried to climb higher. Because they probably realized that the higher they got, the more air there was. They could breathe better. That caused the struggle.

Secondly, most people tried to push their way to the door. It was psychological – they knew where the door was, maybe they could force their way out. It was instinctive, a death struggle.

Which is why children and weaker people, and the aged, always wound up at the bottom. The strongest were on top. Because in the death struggle, a father didn’t realise his son lay beneath him”. </blockquote>

865,000 people died in this manner just at Auschwitz. Another 2 million were killed using gas chambers and gas vans at other camps and during Aktion T4.
After the people were killed their bodies were cremated in one of the massive cremation complexes. The chief architect and builder in charge of all this sent a telegram outlining the capacity of each creation facility.
Bodies were thrown in 2 to 4 at a time. Since fat helps create additional heat and fuel fat people and women (who have higher fat content) were burned with skinny people. Typically 2 adults would be placed inside the furnace with 1 or 2 children.
Life inside the camp was terrible as well. Prisoners were forced to work for long periods of time. Some would help with the gassing and cremations while others worked basic manual labour.
There was little in the way of healthcare for the prisoners. Admitting you were sick was a great way to be “liquidated” so any injured or sick prisoners tried to hide it.
Prisoners were given meagre rations and lived in overcrowded barracks. Disease ran rampant through the always dirty and overcrowded camp.
It’s a lot like you imagine it would be. Lots of hard work, very little food, and constant abuse from guards who could kill you at a moment's notice.
About half of the labour forced died. A large amount died from disease with many more being murdered by the guards. More still starved to death though this was less common than you may think.

<blockquote>“Politics will help you understand the world until you don’t understand it anymore,”</blockquote>

<blockquote>“To him, all women were beautiful and he believed there was no harm in telling them so.”</blockquote>

Characters:
This book showed that there can be some light & hope in a dark world. There wasn't much depth of Lale's or Gita's character or much insight into their emotions, or they were really tired and desperate to show/to not show it. IDK. I can't be a judge of this. Their situation was pretty bleak. It didn't give a "shock", as I was quite painfully aware of this history earlier as well. Their relationship was simple. I didn't feel connected to any of the characters much either. The writing was way too simplistic. A story based on this topic should have a strong grip on it's characters, thoughts, and message! It failed in this aspect for me.
<img src="https://www.thesun.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2018/10/NINTCHDBPICT000443619889-e1540581274789.jpg" />
Whatever happened to Pepan-

PS: I think learning German would be interesting. <s>Weltschmerz</s> is soo me. I think it's my new favourite word.

There are no other words left in me to describe this book.

blairfrank's review against another edition

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5.0

Love the perspective

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