‘The Tattooist of Auschwitz’ TV series seeks to send a message of hope

LONDON—The upcoming TV show “The Tattooist of Auschwitz” is based on the best-selling novel of the same name and inspired by a real-life love story set in the concentration camp.

The miniseries tells the story of Slovakian Jew Lali Sokolov, who was taken to Auschwitz in 1942 and was made one of the camp’s tattooists who inked identification numbers on to the prisoners’ arms. A few months after his arrival, Lali met and fell in love with Gita, a young Slovakian woman, while tattooing her arm.

The series tells the story of their love and survival, as recounted by an elderly and recently widowed Lali, played by Harvey Keitel, to then-aspiring author Heather Morris (Melanie Lynskey).

Morris met with Lali several times a week over some three years, during which he gradually opened up about his past and his trauma. Morris promised to one day share his story with the world.

“He was in hospital, he had had a massive stroke, I knew he was not going to see the sun come up the next day, and I sat with him and then I kissed him goodbye and said, ‘I will never, ever stop trying to tell your story. That is my vow to you.’ And that was on the 31st of October 2006,” Morris said at the series’ premiere in London on Tuesday.

German actor Jonah Nay, who plays Nazi SS officer Stefan Baretzki, said the production came with “emotional weight.”

Right tone

“I really hope that with the series, we found the right tone for what Lali Sokolov wanted Heather Morris to express with the story, to tell the world to get out there to spread a little hope,” he said.

The six-part series is directed by Israeli filmmaker Tali Shalom-Ezer and its score composed by two-time Oscar-winner Hans Zimmer and Kara Talve.

More than 1.1 million people, most of them Jews, perished at the Nazi death camp in southern Poland in gas chambers or from starvation, cold or disease.

“We always need to remind ourselves that this can happen. It did happen, so it can happen again,” Shalom-Ezer said.

Lali and Gita survived the Holocaust and relocated to Australia, where they had a son, Gary Sokolov, who also attended Tuesday’s premiere.

“(People) need to know that in the worst of times, there is always hope. You have to believe that it will get better and it will. One of my dad’s favorite lines was PMA, positive mental attitude. You’ve got to be positive,” he said.

“The Tattooist of Auschwitz” will be available on TV and streaming from May 2.