“The Tattooist of Auschwitz”
The power of love in the midst of concentration camp hell
Lali and Gita Sokolov, portrayed by Jonah Hauer-King and Anna Próchniak.
© Sky UK Limited.
With “The Tattooist of Auschwitz,” a new miniseries that is both devastating and moving begins at the beginning of May.
“The Tattooist of Auschwitz” starts on Sky and its streaming service Wow on May 8th. How the bestseller of the same name became The six-part mini-series is inspired by the real life, suffering and love story of the two concentration camp inmates Ludwig “Lali” and Gita Sokolov. With a star ensemble in front of and off camera, the Sky Original wants to be one thing above all: a lavishly produced memorial against forgetting.
“We have to survive!” – It’s all about this
The Slovakian Jew Ludwig “Lali” Sokolov (Jonah Hauer-King, 28) finds himself in hell on earth in 1942 – the Auschwitz-Birkenau concentration camp, which meant a death sentence for over a million imprisoned Jews until it was liberated three years later. The fact that Sokolov isn’t one of them has to do with sheer luck: by chance he becomes the camp’s new tattoo artist and thus one of the few prisoners whom the camp guards consider difficult to replace.
From then on, Sokolov’s gray everyday life consists of stabbing identification numbers on the arms of his fellow prisoners. But it is precisely this inhumane activity that gives him a spark of hope: he meets fellow prisoner Gita (Anna Próchniak, 35), and the two fall in love in the midst of the concentration camp horror. But instead of just fighting for their own lives, they now also have to fear for each other – and have one big goal in mind: “We have to survive!”
against forgetting
There are a handful of places in this world that are burned into our collective memory solely because of the unimaginable events that took place there – Auschwitz is one of them. Just like Chernobyl, which has already been erected as a cinematic monument against oblivion with the outstanding Sky series “Chernobyl”.
There are even more parallels: As with “Chernobyl”, the miniseries format was chosen for the adaptation of the bestseller “The Tattooist of Auschwitz: The True Story of Lale Sokolov” by author Heather Morris (37) and the plot was so skilfully dramaturgically condensed. In addition, the individual fate of Sokolov and that of his great love Gita served as a representative of the horror that millions of people had to suffer.
Acting star Harvey Keitel (84), who embodies the aged Sokolov in a later era, was aware of the gravity and responsibility that came with the role. After all, there are not many concentration camp survivors left who can warn people about the horrors of around 80 years ago, says Keitel. Consequently, it is “our duty to condemn the barbarism and inhumanity during the Holocaust that was visited upon Jews, Sinti & Roma and political opponents.” “The Tattooist of Auschwitz” does this in a disturbing, yet still worth seeing way.
The spark of light in the darkness
The role of concentration camp inmate Gita was both “the hardest and most challenging, but also the most fulfilling” of her life, said actress Anna Próchniak. Lead actor Jonah Hauer-King also felt honored and was aware of the meaning associated with the part.
You can see the meticulousness with which both actors have taken on the difficult task: How can one gain new courage to live in a place that is its antithesis? And how much more worried do you have to be that it will be taken away from you? Hauer-King and Próchniak succeed in this demanding balancing act between despair and hope, between fear of death and the will to survive.
The German actor Jonas Nay (33), known, among other things, from “Deutschland 86” and its sequels, embodies the central antagonist of the series. He plays the SS officer Stefan Baretzki, who repeatedly takes out his sadism on Sokolov and the other prisoners. It was an ordeal for Nay, who was literally disgusted with his role. But one that he also really wanted to overcome in order to commemorate the victims of social nationalism and remember their fate.
Star duo provides musical accompaniment
A lot of effort went into the production of “The Tattooist of Auschwitz.” This is proven not only by the production design, the equipment and the acting ensemble, but also by a look beyond the camera. A legendary duo is responsible for the song for the series called “Love Will Survive”: The song, which can be heard in the credits, was composed by Hollywood all-purpose weapon Hans Zimmer (66). World star Barbra Streisand (81) performs it – her first song ever for a series. “With anti-Semitism on the rise worldwide, I wanted to sing ‘Love Will Survive’ as part of this series to commemorate the six million souls that were lost less than 80 years ago,” the singer explains of her participation.
“The Tattooist of Auschwitz” starts on May 8th and can be seen on Sky Atlantic every Thursday from 8:15 p.m. from May 9th. The episodes can also be watched on demand via the streaming service Wow.