The Tattooist of Auschwitz

Prologue-Chapter 3

Reading Check

1. To work in a German work camp (Chapter 1)

2. 32407 (Chapter 1)

3. Prisoners who work for the Germans in turn for special treatment (Chapter 2)

4. A young man named Leon (Chapter 3)

Short Answer

1. He works more slowly on young girls to minimize the pain he’s inflicting upon them. He feels that tattooing the arms of men is one thing, but working on young girls is “defiling” them. (Prologue)

2. The other prisoners often turn to Lale for advice, reassurance, and words of encouragement. They may respect Lale immediately because he is dressed in a neat suit and speaks multiple languages. (Chapter 1)

Chapters 4-8

Reading Check

1. Women (Chapter 4)

2. Two hours (Chapter 4)

3. Extra scraps of bread (Chapter 5)

4. A diamond ring (Chapter 8)

Short Answer

1. She writes that, like Lale, she is from Slovakia. She has been in Auschwitz longer than him and works in a warehouse. She agrees to meet Lale at the administration building next Sunday. She does not reveal her name. (Chapter 4)

2. Lale realizes that the “One” implies that the Nazis plan to build more crematoria. (Chapter 6)

Chapters 9-12

Reading Check

1. The letter z (Chapter 9)

2. Typhus (Chapter 10)

3. Doctor Josef Mengele (Chapter 11)

4. Soccer (Chapter 12)

Short Answer

1. He realizes that his mother and Gita may never meet. He thinks about how his mother was instrumental in his development as a man and in shaping his attitude toward women, which is especially poignant in light of Doctor Mengele’s treatment of women in the camp. (Chapter 11)

Chapters 13-16

Reading Check

1. Block 10 (Chapter 13)

2. He’s been castrated. (Chapter 14)

3. Block 29 (Chapter 15)

4. A sausage (Chapter 15)

5. A ruby ring (Chapter 16)

Short Answer

1. Two prisoners mistakenly had the same number tattooed on their arms. The SS officers need Lale to determine who is who. (Chapter 14)

Chapters 17-21

Reading Check

1. A pair of nylon stockings (Chapter 18)

2. To Block 11, the notorious torture and punishment block (Chapter 19)

3. They carry rocks from one side of the prison yard to the other and then back again. (Chapter 20)

4. A diamond ring (Chapter 21)

Short Answer

1. Cilka’s menstrual cycle has completely stopped. This is true of most of the female prisoners because of the trauma and physical hardship they endure. (Chapter 17)

Chapters 22-24

Reading Check

1. Slovaks and Hungarians (Chapter 22)

2. Ash (Chapter 22)

3. Several of the crematoria (Chapter 23)

4. The Sonderkommandos (Chapter 23)

Short Answer

1. Chaos seems to engulf the administration building. A worker tells Lale that the camp will begin being emptied the next day. Later that night, the SS officers enter the women’s camp and paint a bright-red slash down the back of each girl’s coat, and thousands of women prisoners are corralled by officers. (Chapter 24)

Chapters 25-27

Reading Check

1. Dana (Chapter 25)

2. Bratislava (Chapter 25)

3. Gems (Chapter 26)

4. Lale is multilingual, particularly in German and Russian. (Chapter 27)

Short Answer

1. One of Gita’s Polish friends is nearly raped by a deranged Russian soldier; however, the others execute him and show kindness by taking Gita back to Bratislava. The Russian officers Lale ends up with in Austria echo the SS officers in many ways; they threaten to execute Lale if he does not comply. However, they treat him as a human being and give him good clothes and food. (Chapters 25-27)

Chapter 28-Epilogue

Reading Check

1. Four days (Chapter 28)

2. A horse and a small cart (Chapter 28)

3. Sokolov (Epilogue)

Short Answer

1. Lale’s parents were taken by the Nazis shortly after he was. His brother, Max, joined the partisans and died in combat. Max’s wife and children were taken too. Goldie has fallen in love with and married a Russian, and her last name is now Sokolov. (Chapter 28)