The Tattooist of Auschwitz Fact-Check: 9 Biggest True Story Changes (2024)

Summary

  • Lali Sokolov's time in Auschwitz may have been embellished for dramatic effect. Not all details can be verified.
  • Significant elements of The Tattooist of Auschwitz may not be historically accurate, per the Auschwitz Memorial Research Center.
  • Some scenes in the series, like the latrine murder and gas chamber incident, are unlikely to have occurred in real life.

Given that its source material is a work of historical fiction, it can be difficult to parse out what parts of The Tattooist of Auschwitz are true to history and what parts were added for dramatic effect and narrative enhancement. Much of the real story of Lali Sokolov's time in Auschwitz can not be corroborated by documentation, and given that the story is based on his own memories, it's possible that some of it was misremembered or embellished in his mind over time. However, there are a lot of details about the camp itself that can be verified.

The ending of The Tattooist of Auschwitz provides some brief notes as context to the story spread out across six episodes, and several different authorities have researched Lali's story since he first spoke to Heather Morris back in 2003. The most prominent of which, the Auschwitz Memorial Research Center, has cast doubt on some important elements of the story. The show does update some elements from the novel that acts as its source material (the spelling of Lali's name, for example), but some of the inaccurate elements do carry over, typically for the sake of creating a more compelling story.

Related

The harrowing biographical drama The Tattooist of Auschwitz features outstanding performances from both familiar faces and relative unknowns.

9 The Latrine Murder Scene Was Very Unlikely

The randomness doesn't align with the Nazis' regimented protocols

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One of the most brutal and shocking murders to take place on screen in The Tattooist of Auschwitz comes in the first episode, and it sets the tone for the cruelty of the camps right away for Jonah Hauer-King's Lali. As he leaves the barracks to relieve himself in the middle of the night, he sees Nazi SS guard Stefan Baretzki, the man who will soon become his personal supervisor, shoot three prisoners seemingly at random while they use the latrine. The bodies fall, and Baretzki and his comrades simply continue to walk on by.

The scene serves as an important moment for Lali, as it demonstrates why he and every other prisoner lived in fear every second of every day. As shocking as the scene is, it's very unlikely that it would have occurred in the real camps. The Nazis' extermination of prisoners was marked by brutal efficiency and protocol; every prisoner was listed and accounted for at all times.

All episodes of The Tattooist of Auschwitz are now streaming on Peacock.

The guards in charge of the camp were held accountable for each prisoner, and checked names off the list whenever someone was killed. A random killing like the one at the latrine violates those protocols, as those bodies would have needed to be accounted for and disposed of immediately. While it's an important scene in establishing the fear present in the camp for Lali and Gita, it likely never occurrec.

8 Baretzki May Not Have Been Lali's Supervisor

There is no record of their close working relationship

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Stefan Baretzki was a real guard at the camp, and he was one of the individuals tried and sentenced at the Frankfurt Auschwitz Trials years after Auschwitz was liberated. However, there seems to be no documentation that he was ever directly involved with Lali Sokolov, or as his camp papers said at the time, Ludwig Eisenberg. It is known that Baretzki worked in Auschwitz I and Birkenau, the women's camp, which is how he comes in contact with Gita in the show.

Documentation and photographic evidence place Baretzki at the ramp for incoming prisoners, and it's known that he frequented the area. That would certainly put him in close proximity with a tattooist like Lali who worked right in that area, and it's certainly possible that they established a close relationship, as Lali described to Heather Morris. However, Lali's depiction of Baretzki as his personal supervisor can't be verified.

7 Baretzki Never Brought Lali Into The Gas Chamber

Someone with Lali's job would not be allowed in that area

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One of the most striking scenes in The Tattooist of Auschwitz involves Baretzki personally taking Lali down into one of the gas chambers so that he can identify two bodies that were left in the chamber. The numbers tattooed on their arms are not clear, and Baretzki asks Lali to clarify what they say so that the bodies can be properly documented. Baretzki makes a joke, laughing that Lali was the first Jew to ever walk into the gas chamber and then walk out alive, demonstrating his depravity and sadistic cruelty.

There is very little chance that this actually happened, as someone with Lali's status would not have been allowed near the gas chambers or crematoria. Furthermore, the protocol was to identify prisoners sent to the gas chambers during their selection, and then again before they were sent to die. There is no way that two bodies would actually remain unidentified at the time they entered the chamber. The scene is a valid demonstration of Baretzki's cruelty, but there is little reason to think it actually occurred as Lali describes it.

6 Lali Could Not Have Gotten Penicillin For Gita

Its use was not widespread at the time

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As part of his privilege as a tätowierer, Lali was able to move more freely about the camp, and establish a system of exchanging valuables for food and other items. One of the most valuable uses of his privilege comes when Gita falls victim to typhus, as many did in the camp, and becomes very ill. He is able to get her medication in the form of an antibiotic, which helps her recover and ultimately saves her life as her friends hide her and treat her.

The Tattooist of Auschwitz Character

Played By

Lali Sokolov

Harvey Keitel

Young Lali Sokolov

Jonah Hauer-King

Gita Fuhrmannova

Anna Próchniak

Heather Morris

Melanie Lynskey

Jonas Nay

Stefan Baretzki

It is all but impossible that Lali was able to procure penicillin for Gita, as the drug was still in the research phase at the time Gita became sick. Its use did not become widespread or easily accessible until after WWII, meaning that even with a connection to the camp's physician, Lali wouldn't have been able to get the treatment Gita needed to recover quickly. It's possible that Lali was able to provide her with food and perhaps some other item to help with the symptoms, but the medicine he is shown smuggling to her in the show is unlikely.

5 Cilka Acting As A Mistress Was Unlikely

A German officer simply wouldn't have taken the risk

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One of the biggest issues that the Auschwitz Memorial Research Center had with The Tattooist of Auschwitz was its portrayal of Cilka, the beautiful young girl who oversees Gita in the administration building she winds up working in. Cilka, a Jewish prisoner, is shown with her head unshaved, as she is supposedly a mistress to one of the major officers at the camp, Josef Houstek. Cilka parlays this relationship into favors, and it's implied that she is responsible for saving Lali's life when his stash of smuggled items is discovered by the guards, and he is beaten.

Heather Morris wrote a sequel novel to The Tattooist of Auschwitz titled Cilka's Journey , another work of historical fiction based loosely on Cilka's real story.

There is almost no chance that an SS officer would engage in an explicit relationship with a Jewish prisoner, as it would open him up to significant risk. An SS officer engaging in such a relationship would be accused of race dishonor, referred to as Rassenschande, and would result in severe consequences. There is even a precedent for the consequences, as an SS officer who did exactly that was sent to a penal camp for his illicit activities. Cilka's rescue of Lali is a pivotal moment in the show, but it is difficult to believe that it unfolded as it's depicted.

4 It's Unlikely A Baby Was Born In The Barracks

It would have been difficult to conceal

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One of the most uplifting scenes in The Tattooist of Auschwitz is the birth of the prisoner Esther's baby. She shows up to the camp pregnant, but due to how she carried the baby, she was able to conceal it from the Nazis. She goes into labor in the barracks one night, a month earlier than expected, and her fellow prisoners rally to deliver the baby safely. Gita mentions years later that one of the reasons she wants to return to Europe is to see Esther's daughter, who was a 16-year-old girl at that point.

A significant point is made in the show that all pregnant women were killed immediately when Lali first arrives at the camp, which is consistent with history. Per the Auschwitz Memorial and Museum, beginning in mid-1943, non-Jewish newborns were allowed to live and processed as incoming prisoners. In November 1944, with the war slipping away from the Nazis, even Jewish newborns were allowed to live as the mass exterminations were halted. In theory, a baby could have been born in the camp and survived, but it would likely have occurred in a maternity ward and not in the barracks.

3 Lali Didn't Tell Gita Where To Meet Outside The Camp

The only information he had was her name

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In The Tattooist of Auschwitz, in order to ensure that they can meet up outside the camp, Lali tells Gita to go to the shop he was employed in before being deported, as his boss would take care of her and they could meet up once he was freed. Gita eventually makes her way there, only to discover the shop boarded up and Lali nowhere to be found. She stays in the area searching for him, and happens to see him riding a horse and buggy as he searches for her as well. It's one of the most beautiful moments in the show, but it happened differently in real life.

In reality, Lali had no information outside of Gita's full name when she left the camp. Likewise, she had almost no information to go off to find him once she made her way back to Slovakia. Once they both escaped the Nazis, they made their way to Bratislava separately, as it was a known collection point for those returning from the camps. While Lali searched for her for weeks, asking incoming women if they knew her, they finally ran into each other out of pure coincidence as he traveled to the Red Cross to look for her.

2 Lali Was Never Captured By The Russian Army

He didn't seek out women for soldiers' parties

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In The Tattooist of Auschwitz, Lali escapes the Nazis only to be taken into custody by the Red Army. While he is treated far better than he was in the camp, he was still a prisoner, and put to work talking to local women thanks to his charm and skill with various languages. Lali convinced them to go to parties with the Russian soldiers, where they would ultimately be raped and treated poorly by the occupying soldiers. This serves as another element of Lali's guilt as a collaborator, and is another point he hesitates to share with Heather.

The real Lali became the camp's main tattooist due to his ability to speak several Eastern European languages, including Slovakian, German, Russian, Hungarian, and some Polish.

In reality, Lali escaped the Nazis while being transported from camp to camp as the Nazis fled the oncoming Red Army. Per the CBC he tunneled his way out of a camp in Austria, and slowly made his way back to his hometown, even floating down the Danube River at one point as the Germans and Russians fired back and forth over his head. The scenes with the Russians help further establish why Lali waited so long to tell his story, but it isn't consistent with his real story.

1 Baretzki Didn't Seek Lali's Help During The Frankfurt Auschwitz Trials

There is no evidence that Baretzki reached out to Lali

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One of the few times Gita and Lali are ever shown disagreeing in The Tattooist of Auschwitz comes in the final episode, and is set in the 1960s. Lali and Gita are visited by the Australian police, and are handed a request from the German embassy, which includes a request from the legal team representing Stefan Baretzki in the Frankfurt Auschwitz Trials. Baretzki requested that Lali make a positive statement about his character, given that he referred to him as "like a brother" at one point in the camp.

Lali is forced to consider it, as despite Baretzki's psychopathic nature and many murders, Lali would not have survived the camp without him, and he and Gita may not have been able to forge a relationship. Gita is of course mortified, but Lali eventually does write a letter in response, saying that Baretzki killed many people and was a horrible person, but he did keep him alive. While he speaks nothing but the truth, it's another thing that he's ashamed of, and keeps him from telling his entire story until after Gita passes away.

In reality, there is no record of Baretzki ever reaching out to Lali for support during the trials. Despite being the lowest-ranking officer in the trials, Baretzki was discovered to be complicit in the deaths of at least 8,000 people, and was sentenced to life in prison plus additional years. He would go on to kill himself in prison in 1988.

Source: Auschwitz Memorial Research Center, Auschwitz Memorial and Museum, CBC

The Tattooist of Auschwitz Fact-Check: 9 Biggest True Story Changes (11)
The Tattooist of Auschwitz

Drama

History

Romance

The Tattooist of Auschwitz is the true story of Lale Sokolov, a Jewish prisoner who was forced to tattoo the ID numbers on the other prisoners at the concentration camp during World War II. The series is based on the novel of the same name from authorHeather Morris.

Cast
Jonah Hauer-King , Melanie Lynskey , Anna Próchniak , Harvey Keitel , Jonas Nay

Release Date
May 2, 2024

Seasons
1

Writers
Gabbie Asher , Jacquelin Perske , Evan Placey
Where To Watch
Peacock
The Tattooist of Auschwitz Fact-Check: 9 Biggest True Story Changes (2024)
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