From the title you would expect this to be an incredibly sad read, but you would be mistaken. Of course it takes place in one of if not THE worst periods in human history, but it is a tale more of survival and making the best of your situation. I think it makes it easier to read as you know from the start this is a tale told by the person, so you know they made it out ok and it is in no way a work of fiction.
We are taken on this journey through the eyes of Lale as a young man from arriving at the gates of Auschwitz, to his first job helping put the roof on one of the buildings to house yet more prisoners, keeping his eyes and ears open looking for any opportunity to make things better for him and some of his fellow prisoners, but also keeping his head down so as not to attract unwanted attention from the brutal SS guards.
Once he worked things out better he was extremely fortunate to get a new job tatooing the numbers on the prisoners. This brought him slightly better rations and a bit more freedom around the camp, which allowed him to start up his smuggling - persuading other prisoners to give him gems and money that they stole while sorting out the belongings of all the incoming prisoners, which he then exchanged with some of the locals who were also doing building work for food and medicine, which he then very generously shared with anyone he could. This was an extremely dangerous thing to undertake as if he was caught he would surely have been executed. But we know he survived so it takes a little of the danger away from the story.
This job also brought to him the main thing that he would choose to fight for, the love of his life - Gita, he tattoooed her number - as he did for thousands of others, but when he looked into her eyes he fell instantly in love, and vowed he would make it out of that hellish place so he could marry and spend the rest of his life with her. Throughout the rest of the story everything he does is with Gita in mind, whether it was getting essential medicine to her when she came down with Typhus and would surely have died, or sweetening up the kapo in charge of her block with chocolate and sausage so he could get to spend extra time with her, to getting her a job in the more comfortable administration block.
It was quite the story - maybe a little too positive, but this is because it seems to be just the sort of person Lale was so it comes across in the story he told. He made the best of things, survived the horrors, and was able to tell his tale so many years later.
We are taken on this journey through the eyes of Lale as a young man from arriving at the gates of Auschwitz, to his first job helping put the roof on one of the buildings to house yet more prisoners, keeping his eyes and ears open looking for any opportunity to make things better for him and some of his fellow prisoners, but also keeping his head down so as not to attract unwanted attention from the brutal SS guards.
Once he worked things out better he was extremely fortunate to get a new job tatooing the numbers on the prisoners. This brought him slightly better rations and a bit more freedom around the camp, which allowed him to start up his smuggling - persuading other prisoners to give him gems and money that they stole while sorting out the belongings of all the incoming prisoners, which he then exchanged with some of the locals who were also doing building work for food and medicine, which he then very generously shared with anyone he could. This was an extremely dangerous thing to undertake as if he was caught he would surely have been executed. But we know he survived so it takes a little of the danger away from the story.
This job also brought to him the main thing that he would choose to fight for, the love of his life - Gita, he tattoooed her number - as he did for thousands of others, but when he looked into her eyes he fell instantly in love, and vowed he would make it out of that hellish place so he could marry and spend the rest of his life with her. Throughout the rest of the story everything he does is with Gita in mind, whether it was getting essential medicine to her when she came down with Typhus and would surely have died, or sweetening up the kapo in charge of her block with chocolate and sausage so he could get to spend extra time with her, to getting her a job in the more comfortable administration block.
It was quite the story - maybe a little too positive, but this is because it seems to be just the sort of person Lale was so it comes across in the story he told. He made the best of things, survived the horrors, and was able to tell his tale so many years later.