The Tattooist of Auschwitz, by Heather Morris

Characters/People
Prisoners and family	Guards and others
Lale Gloria Sokolov – sister, married to a Russian soldier Gita Furman Cilka, Dana and Ivana – friends Pepan – Tattooist Leon – Lale’s assistant after Pepan disappeared Girls who work in Canada House – smuggled out jewels and valuables to Lale Gypsies/ Romany Hilda Goldstein – Gita’s neighbor from home Sonderkommando – removed bodies from oven, received extra privileges Jakub – American prisoner, Block 11	Commandant Rudolf Hoess – Auschwitz Houstek Baretski – Lale’s guard Schwarzhuber – head of Birkenau, rapes Cilka Josef Mengele Kapo – boss of barracks Bella – at desk in administration office Victor and Yuri (son) – builders paid to work in camp Friedrich – guard at Russian camp, takes Lale into town to get girls for the evening

NOTE: Page numbers are from paperback edition.

1. What were the personality characteristics that helped Lale survive in the camp?
2. Lale said he learned to flirt by trying to get what he wanted from his mother when he was younger.  His mother advised him to, “Be attentive, Lale; remember the small things, and the big things will work themselves out” (page 113).   Was this good advice in the concentration camp as well as with dating?
3. Lale feels that he, like the Sonderkommando, has “chosen to stay alive for as long as he can, by performing an act of defilement on people of his own faith” (page 139).  Can you understand their feelings?  Do you agree with them?
4. After learning about Cilka’s fate, Lale tells Gita that Cilka is a hero and that “[c]hoosing to live is an act of defiance, a form of heroism” (page 156).  Will Lale be judged also as a hero or a “perpetrator or collaborator” (page 157).
5. In the “Additional Information” section at the end of the book it said that Cilka was “charged as a Nazi conspirator and sentenced to hard labor” (page 10).  Why was she judged differently than Lale and Sonderkommando?
6. Victor and his son, Yuri, smuggled food in to Lale to share with the others.  At the beginning Victor said they would do it because, “if we can help just one of you, we’ll do it. Right, Yuri?” and Lale responded, “Save the one, save the world” (page 72).  How did we see this philosophy play out through the novel?
7. Were you surprised to read how Jakub did his job but still protected Lale?  Jakub told Lale, “I will kill you before I let you give me any names.” and “If I must kill one Jew to save ten others, then I will” (page 172).  What were the various ways people looked out for each other in the book?

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First Semester Success, 2nd edition, by Dr. Arden B. Hamer, is available as an eBook and hardcopy from amazon.com and a hardcopy from wordassociation.com.