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The Tattooist of Auschwitz,
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Angela Meyer
Hi Deanna and Frank, I'm Heather's commissioning editor, just replying on her behalf. As with Thomas Keneally's Schindler's Ark, the decision was made to release the book as fiction 'based on a true story' because of those moments where creative or dramatic license was taken, such as when she had to fill in small blanks in time, or delve into characters' thoughts. At one point she puts Lale and Gita together, when they were not (when the planes fly over the camp), and some of the names of smaller characters, while representative of real people, are invented. The story is based on what Lale shared with Heather over many years, and if you haven't read it yet you'll be amazed at some of the things Lale and Gita went through. I was astonished, when working on it, to learn just how much of it was true (as told by Lale). The dialogue, for example – at first I thought Heather had invented much of what was said, but many of the conversations are word-for-word what Lale told her. I have seen videos of Lale, too, and can confirm this. Of course, he was an old man by then, and so his memory of these conversations is all Heather had to go on, but in terms of the events, researchers revealed that Lale and Gita's story very much waltzed in step with history. We hope you enjoy the read, and all the best.
Lisa
One 'fact' that should have been checked (though I would have thought it was general knowledge) was that penicillin, mentioned on p82, was not available in 1943. It was discovered in 1928, but mass production proved very difficult and by 1942 researchers had just enough to treat ten patients. In July of 1943 the US was developing a plan to mass produce it, and by 1944 they had enough for military use on D-Day, but even if Lale had known about the existence of penicillin, the idea that there would have been any in the Auschwitz hospital is absurd, and so is his quest to get some. Wikipedia (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Penicil...) says that the drug was not available for civilian use in the US till March 1945 and that Australia was the first country to make it available to the public after the war.
Paweł Sawicki
In the new edition of "Memoria" magazine dedicated to Holocaust history, remembrance and education the Auschwitz Memorial has published a thorough historical fact-checking review of "The Tattooist of Auschwitz" by Heather Morris.
Read the text here: joom.ag/uP4a/p6
The book states: "Every reasonable attempt to verify the facts against available documentation has been made". It has actually not been made. Quite the contrary.
The number of the factual errors, exaggerations and misinterpretations in this book disqualify it as a source of knowledge about the history of Auschwitz. The story of Ludovit Eisenberg deserved better.
Read the text here: joom.ag/uP4a/p6
The book states: "Every reasonable attempt to verify the facts against available documentation has been made". It has actually not been made. Quite the contrary.
The number of the factual errors, exaggerations and misinterpretations in this book disqualify it as a source of knowledge about the history of Auschwitz. The story of Ludovit Eisenberg deserved better.
AM
Seems to me the author made strange factual errors and then tried to hide behind the screen of "this is only fiction." One of the strangest errors is the misspelling of the main character's name, which was actually Lali.
See: https://www.nytimes.com/2018/11/08/bo...
See: https://www.nytimes.com/2018/11/08/bo...
Anoeska Nossol
No. It's not a true story. It's even filled with mistakes. Auschwitz had made a public post about this: https://www.facebook.com/auschwitzmem...
Glenys
I believe that this is mostly biographical. Heather Morris was asked to write this by Lale who was anxious to have his story told before he died. He was an old man and told Heather his story about sixty years after the events occurred so there may well be discrepancies (ie the penicillin which we take almost for granted today). I recall a radio interview when Heather Morris said that it took some years to write this story which was planned as a screenplay.
Stephanie
It's barely historical, apparently: https://www.theguardian.com/books/201...
Dan Bloom
but...... see the truth-behind-AUSSIE bestseller-#holocaust-romance-novel-called-into-question-by-some/ at..... it's a liteary hoax .... https://blogs.timesofisrael.com/truth... and publisher and author both refuse to engage with me and others on this. Shame on them.
Frank Review
I had the same question. Historical fiction takes a true era or event and places fictional characters against that backdrop. The challenge of the genre is to ensure that every little historical detail is correct - such as clothes, food, transport, politics, ways of speaking and writing etc. This book is presented as the true story of two real people. It is clear that the author has added research to her interviews with Lale so I also cannot see how this is historical fiction.
If the book was about a fictionalised tattooist or a fictionalised labour camp then the description would be correct. I don't think that it could even be called 'faction' when facts are combined with fiction - although that might be a more apt category for this book.
A great question.
If the book was about a fictionalised tattooist or a fictionalised labour camp then the description would be correct. I don't think that it could even be called 'faction' when facts are combined with fiction - although that might be a more apt category for this book.
A great question.
Ilana (illi69)
Anyone interested in a strong dissenting view about this novel in general and the ethics of portraying a romance in a death camp is invited to read my review.
Laura
Actually, the Auschwitz Memorial Research Centre wrote an 11-pge report about this book, describing error after error. And her follow-up is an even more horrifying abuse of Cilka and her family (see my review https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...).
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