Books
by Heather Morris
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Cilka's Journey |
This sequel to The Tattooist of Auschwitz (bwl 89) is loosely based on a Holocaust survivor and her time in a Russian gulag. Her family have disowned it as a distortion of the truth. It's a pity, perhaps, the author used the name of a real person who did survive, but differently. Nevertheless, it is a compelling read and indictment of the terrible things humans do to each other. True 16-year old Cilka would do anything to survive but would we have been any better?
(Jenny Baker - bwl 97 Summer 2020) |
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The Tattooist of Aushwitz |
Lale Sokolov survived the Polish death camps by being assigned the task of tattooist. Feeling guilty because of his slightly better living conditions, he smuggled food and help to fellow prisoners and saved the life of the girl he later married. Morris details life in the camps, showing how hunger, violence and dehumanisation ground down the inmates and also explains very matter of factly how the Nazi regime's cruelty corrupted individuals: i.e the guards. Particularly timely with the rise of Islamophobia and intolerance globally.
(Helen Allan - bwl 89 Summer 2018) |
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