When he talked about Mengele, he was shaking, and his voice was trembling, says about Tattooist of Auschwitz Heather Morris

CPress published this year a book called Tattooist of Auschwitz, which describes not only the dirty work of Lale Sokolov, which he was conducting to the Nazis, when he tattooed other Jews the registration numbers on the forearm, but also the story of great love. Lale himself had signed up to the authorities to protect the rest of the family, unbeknownst to him, he failed everyone but his sister. "He believed he was saving his family. They told them that if they gave up one child, the rest of the family would be fine. The records show that his parents were killed immediately after they arrived because they were older," says Heather Morris, regarding her new book, Tattooist of Auschwitz, in an interview for server Lidovky.cz.

The photo of me and Heather Morris from the day of interview.

The book got title The Tattooist of Auschwitz. Have you ever been to this place before you wrote the book?

No, I did not visit Auschwitz beforehand. I only went there in April this year for the first time.

Was is hard to describe such a place without having your own visitor experience?

I think it actually worked better for me, because I had Lale´s description. It was important to me I wrote it in way, he saw it, he remembered it.

Why it took so long the story come to lights?

He did not want to talk about it publicly while his wife Gita was alive. They had made an agreement not to talk about it. Gita did not want to talk about it. Lale was just honouring her wishes. It took me good nine or ten months, because he was an old man. But he remembered all so vividly. Many times, he told me: Oh, did I tell you about... he would say something, and I said: No, you did not, tell me now.

Did he ever try to describe his story in better light?

Initially he told me his story quite clinically, he needed to get to know me and he was telling me quite factually, dates and times and people. It was not until several months after of our friendship, but one day the two dogs, he lived with made it clear I was an okay person. He decided right I could tell you my story as it was published. He knew I will be fact checking everything he told me. And he said I wouldn't want it any other way.

Did you have to edit something in the book or its just Lale´s story?

I wanted to be very clear that there was none of my voice in it and everything in there was Lale´s. I wanted the reader to think that they were hearing Lale tell his story. I still maintain it might be my book, but it is his story. In terms of whether I had to create some scenes. There were times when he couldn't remember some of the people who were there with him. And that's why it´s classified as fiction not a memoir.

So, you have to make some names?

Yes, particularly the men he played a game of football against Nazis he couldn't remember their names. I was writing a memoir. My publisher said I would have to call them player one or one player two. It was never going to work for me. I could not put dialogue into Gita´s and other people's scenes because a memoir or biography has just got to be about what that person saw.

How did you know, what to write in Gita scene´s?

I have access to this beautiful lady. Her name is Dana in the book but her real name is Lottie. She is still alive, and she lives in Australia. She and I agreed to change her name in the book because she's written her own story and she's something of a national treasure in Australia. So, I had girls’ stuff from Lottie who was there.

Mostly what I wanted to know, why it was you, who was contacted by Lale to write his story?

That's an excellent question. I wish I had a brilliant answer for you but the truth is I was just having a cup of coffee with a friend one day ago and she said to me casually - by the way I have a friend whose mother has just died and his father has asked him to find somebody to tell his story to and that person can't be Jewish.

Why it could not be a Jewish?

Lale didn't want anybody who had their own family history or their own backstory that they could bring into telling his story. It is a matter of me telling not the story of the Holocaust but a holocaust story.

When I was making research reading other readers opinions I find some negative, which were telling: It´s a combination of red library and holiday reading. What do you think about these opinions?

The crazy thing is I get thousands of e-mails from people all around the world and they do tell me that they picked it up at the airport on their way out for a holiday. I would not see it as holiday reading I would not have picked it up and taken it away. But so many people do I think I don't know why it looks appealing to people I think because it has so much hope in it.

And love.

And love can't go past the love.

I try to read a lot of book about holocaust, but I don´t think I ever read the love story from any concentration camp.

But you know I've met other people in Melbourne and Sydney who said to me my parents met each other in Auschwitz. This is not the only relationship to come from there. I don't think there were too many, but I have met people who told me this, but nobody has recorded their stories.

There was a scene with gypsies. It really looked he make a warm relationship with them.

Yes. It took him nearly eight months of friendship he even talks about them. And when he did he would break down he would openly cry. His hands were shaking and his connection and relationship with the gypsy of the room of people was so prefunded. It never left him that love for a culture that he should never have anything to do with. And he said it made him a better person because he learned that it didn't matter what race, colour, creed or nationality was.

Did he ever regret he went report himself instead of running away from Nazis?

No, never, because he thought he was saving his family. That's what they were told give up one child and the rest of the family will be fine. He never found what happened to his parent I only found that after he died. He never knew, they had been taken to Auschwitz. The records show that they were killed immediately they arrived because they were older. Lale only knew they had clearly been taken away and they never came back.

When you were speaking with Lale, had you feeling it´s a same person, who was in Auschwitz or it completely changed him for future time?

When I first met his, he was so grief stricken because Gita just died. He was very clear to me - hurry up and tell my story I need to be with Gita. So, for many months I was dealing with this man who would hardly lift his eyes up on the floor and he would be clutching a photo of Gita to his chest, while we were talking. It was when he decided that he would tell me the true depth horrors he had seen and witnessed and experienced that all trauma, pain and guilt started to leave. We started going out to cafes and social occasions and to movies. My husband had to ask should he be jealous.

Do you think it was love for first sight?

He could tell me sixty years after it happened about that day he first held Gita´s hand. Tattooed numbers onto her arm an 18-year-old girl that was dressed in rags and had a head shaven and sixty years later he said: I knew in that second, I will never love another.

Was their reunion really happened like its written in the book? It looked quite unbelievable.

It's a Hollywood ending isn't it? And when he told me I initially said Yeah right. Sounds great Lale. Steven Spielberg created an organization Shoah after he made the movie Schindler´s list and what he did was he sent reporters and camera all around the world finding survivors and then videotaping their testimony. They also came to Melbourne and Lale immediately put his hand up. Yep yep I will do that, and he did. Gita did not want to, refused because she wouldn't talk about it. And he said he finally persuaded her last day this people were in Melbourne to make testimony otherwise it would die with her. She agreed to do it for two reasons. One Lale could not be in the apartment when it was being reported. And secondly, he was never to watch it. The Shoah Foundation gave everybody the copy of testimony, Lale never did watch it but I did.

What was there?

I have two hours of Gita telling her story. She is quite clinical she's unemotional she's detached. She doesn't want to do this it's very clear that she's just going to give that interview a basic short answer to every question. But when it came to finding Lale she just described even better than Lale did, so I have her account - how she saw this funny man and this funny little cart being drawn by a horse and her friend pointing out look at that´s funny and she recognised him and she tells us that was the first and only time in his life he has been speechless and I had to do the talking.

Why did you choose the crowdfunding for publishing your book instead of trying to show that to publisher?

I tried that, publisher just don´t want to know unknown authors. I had sent out letters to several of the big publishing houses in Australia and they were like who are you? The reason I did the crowdfunding wasn't because I wanted money. One of my sons makes short films in Melbourne and they had done crowdfunding exercise to help get money to continue making this very expensive and quite long short film. And he said to me mum do this is not about the money but it's about the people around the world will know about your project and that's exactly what happened that a publisher saw that campaign. My husband just got a camera and put me in front of it and had me talking about it and we put some music and a few photos together.

Speaking of crowdfunding, you wrote there Lale was seeing himself to be played by Brad Pitt. Do you have some offers to make this book into film?

In fact, we've done a deal and it will be made into a miniseries not a film. We turned down all the film offers because they would only be for two hours and then three weeks in a movie theatre.

When it's going to be possible to watch that?

In less than 18 months. They have a deadline of January 2020 and they're working hard to that deadline and they have that deadline because that's the 75th anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz. The actors will be pick up from Slovak actors. I don't want them to take Julia Roberts and try to make you look edgy, but they will one famous actor for sure.

We were talking about love story, but still there are plenty of inhuman scenes. Was is hard for you to write it?

Yeah, it's only about 20 percent of book and it was one of the biggest decisions I had to make, it was a real challenge. What do I put in, what I leave out and I keep coming back to the fact that I wanted this to be a story of love and hope and courage. And of course, survival. And so, I took out so much horror that I know because that would change the whole tone of it particularly as it related to Mengele he spent way too much time with that man. I did not want to be about Mengele, he had little role, of course it was important, but it was my decision. I particularly consider those stories sitting in front of the man as close as you are. His voice would be quivering, and he'd be shaking in terror of remembering.

What are you working on now?

It´s a character out of book Cilka. She was 16 when she was taken, and she survived. She did not go for march as Gita and another girl. She was left in Auschwitz and Russians liberated Cilka in the end. She got accused of sleeping with enemy and then got send to Siberia. I'll be meeting people in Moscow who will be given all documents and photos of her life and husband life, she met in gulag. It´s another happy ending.

So, it’s going to be a book?

Yes, but the production company in the UK is saying we want it all ready. And they intend to cast the person who play Cilka for another part.

The interview was originally published for server Lidovky.cz in Czech language.