Lale Sokolov

 The Tattooist of Auschwitz

(Lale Sokolov in 1947)

“The Tattooist of Auschwitz” is an Upcoming TV Series based on a Book of the same name based on the True story of Lale Sokolov.

Lale Sokolov was a Jewish Prisoner in the Auschwitz-Birkenau Concentration and Death Camp during World War II. His job there was tattooing identification numbers on fellow Prisoners’ arms.

Lale Sokolov was born Ludwig Eisenberg on October 28, 1916 in Korompa, Kingdom of Hungary (now Krompachy, Slovakia).

In April 1942, he was deported to Auschwitz as part of the Slovak Government's participation in the Holocaust under Jozef Tiso, a Roman Catholic Priest and President of the Nazi-German Ally Slovak State from 1939-1945. Tiso was found guilty of Treason for his crimes and hanged in 1947.

Upon arrival at the Extermination Camp, he was tattooed with the number 32407. He was set to work constructing housing blocks for the expanding camp but soon became ill with typhoid.

Having recovered, he was assigned as one of the camp's Tätowierer (Tattooist).

Camp Tattoo Numbers were only given to those Prisoners deemed capable of doing Forced Labor and not those sent directly to the Gas Chambers. The Tattoo Numbers replaced the Prisoners’ Names and were meant to identify the dead bodies.

His job meant he was "a step further away from death than the other prisoners", and he received a number of benefits such as a single room, extra rations, and free time when his work had been completed.

While in the Camp, Sokolov met his future wife Gisela "Gita" Fuhrmannova while giving her her Camp Tattoo (number: 4562) and helping her throughout her stay in the Camp.

Eight days before the Liberation of Auschwitz by Soviet troops on January  27, 1945, Sokolov was moved to the Mauthausen Concentration Camp in Austria.

At Mauthausen, some Czech Prisoners, in gratitude for what he had done to help other Prisoners in Auschwitz, swapped the Jewish Star of David on his camp uniform for the red triangle of a Political Prisoner, and got him onto a transport to a Camp run by the Wehrmacht rather than the SS where Sokolov would be safer.

He escaped that Concentration Camp and returned to Slovakia.

Knowing only Gita Fuhrmannova's name, he went to Bratislava, Czechoslovakia (now Slovakia) the main entry point for returning Survivors, to search for her.

The couple married later in 1945, and he changed his surname from Eisenberg to the more Russian-sounding Sokolov.

(Lale and Gita)

He then opened a factory in Bratislava. During this time, he was involved in collecting money in support of the creation of the State of Israel.

This activity and the Nationalization of industry by Czechoslovakia's then Communist Government, resulted in him being imprisoned and having his business seized.

 He was subsequently released and the Couple emigrated to Australia in 1948.

In Australia, Sokolov and his Wife settled in Melbourne and opened up a clothing factory.

Their only child, Gary, was born in 1961.

Though his Wife visited Europe a number of times, Sokolov never returned.

Following Gita's death in 2003, he finally felt able to speak about his war-time experience having feared that he would be perceived as a Collaborator.

He was interviewed by Journalist Heather Morris over the next three years, resulting in the publication of “The Tattooist of Auschwitz” in 2018.

Lale Sokolov died in Melbourne, Australia on October 31, 2006 at 90 years old.

The Tattooist of Auschwitz” will air on the Peacock Streaming Channel on May 2, 2024.

Harvey Keitel plays the older Lale Sokolov and Jonah Hauer-King plays the younger Lale Sokolov.