Lale Sokolov

Lale Sokolov
Sokolov in 1947
Born
Ludwig Eisenberg

(1916-10-28)28 October 1916
Krompachy, Slovakia
Died31 October 2006(2006-10-31) (aged 90)
Melbourne, Australia

Ludwig ("Lali" or "Lale") Sokolov (né Eisenberg; 28 October 1916 – 31 October 2006), was an Austro-Hungarian-born Slovak-Australian businessman and Holocaust survivor.[1]

Biography

See also: The Tattooist of Auschwitz

Lale Sokolov was born Ludwig Eisenberg on 28 October 1916 in Korompa, Kingdom of Hungary (now Krompachy,[2] Slovakia).[3] In April 1942, he was deported to Auschwitz as part of the Slovak government's participation in the Holocaust.[2] Upon arrival at the extermination camp, he was tattooed with the number 32407.[2] He was set to work constructing housing blocks for the expanding camp but soon became ill with typhus.[3] Having recovered, he was assigned as one of the camp's Tätowierer (tattooist).[3] As such, he was part of the Politische Abteilung and had an SS officer assigned to monitor him.[3] 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.[3]

While in the camp, Sokolov met his future wife Gisela "Gita" Fuhrmannova. He was also involved in trading contraband with prisoners, SS officers, and locals.[3]

Eight days before the liberation of Auschwitz by Soviet troops on 27 January 1945, Sokolov was moved to Mauthausen concentration camp in Austria. At Mauthausen his Jewish identity was unknown; when he was denounced for being Jewish by a fellow prisoner, he successfully denied the revelation and incited two allies to murder his betrayer in the steel mill's rollers.[4] He escaped that concentration camp, and returned to Slovakia. Knowing only Gita Fuhrmannova's name, he went to Bratislava, the main entry point for returning survivors, to search for her.[3] The couple married later in 1945, and he changed his surname from Eisenberg to the more Russian-sounding Sokolov.[3] He then opened a factory in Bratislava.[2][3] During this time, he was involved in collecting money in support of the creation of the State of Israel.[3] This activity, and the nationalization of industry by Czechoslovakia's then communist government, resulted in his being imprisoned and having his business seized.[3] He was subsequently released and the couple emigrated to Australia in 1948.[2]

In Australia, Sokolov and his wife settled in Melbourne and opened up a clothing factory.[2] Their only child, Gary, was born in 1961.[3] Though his wife visited Europe a number of times, Sokolov never returned.[3] 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.[2][3]

He was interviewed by journalist Heather Morris over the next three years, resulting in the publication of The Tattooist of Auschwitz in 2018.[5][6] While the book was billed as historical fiction, it generated controversy because of a perception that its marketing and content suggested historical accuracy despite departures from the truth and presenting a hagiographic rendition of a complicated biography.[4] Sokolov died in 2006, survived by his son.[3]

On 2 May 2024, a miniseries based on The Tattooist of Auschwitz by Morris, was released, starring Harvey Keitel as Lale Sokolov, Jonah Hauer-King as young Lale Sokolov, and Anna Próchniak as Gita.[7]

See also

References

  1. ^ Kenneally, Christine. "'The Tattooist of Auschwitz' and the History in Historical Fiction". The New York Times.
  2. ^ a b c d e f g Morris, Heather (10 January 2007). "Obituary: Lale Sokolov". The Guardian. Retrieved 8 January 2018.
  3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o Prasad, Ritu (8 January 2018). "The Tattooist of Auschwitz - and his secret love". BBC News. Retrieved 8 January 2018.
  4. ^ a b Kenneally, Christine (15 February 2020). "The fabulist of Auschwitz". The Monthly. Retrieved 2 July 2022.
  5. ^ Witek-Malicka, Wanda (2018). "Fact-checking "The Tattooist of Auschwitz" – Memoria [EN] No. 14 (11/2018)". view.joomag.com. Auschwitz-Birkenau State Museum. Retrieved 18 May 2020.
  6. ^ Hirsh, Anna; Láníček, Jan; Mitschke, Samantha; Shields, Kirril (2020). "The Tattooist of Auschwitz and the Trivialisation of the Holocaust: A Roundtable Discussion" (PDF). Australian Journal of Jewish Studies. 32.
  7. ^ Knolle, Sharon (16 March 2023). "Melanie Lynskey, Jonah Hauer-King Lead Cast of Sky/Peacock Drama 'The Tattooist of Auschwitz'". The Wrap. Archived from the original on 16 April 2023. Retrieved 12 April 2023.

Further reading