The Tatooist Of Auschwitz, Morris - B+

                    This extraordinary novel is actually based on the true story of Lale Eisenberg of Bratislava who arrived at Auschwitz in March 1942 and survived the war inking thousands of numbers on the poor souls who were transported Auschwitz and Birkenau. One of the first he met was Gita Furman, also a Slovakian. He was a master of surviving by trading and working the black-market that existed between the prisoners, guards and Polish day laborers. He and Gita started a love affair that amazingly lasted through almost three years in the camp. When the SS fled in January, 1945, Gita escaped to Cracow with some Polish girls. She hitched a ride to Bratislava with a long-haul trucker. Lale was transported to Austria, where he escaped in the chaos of the war's end. They found each other in Bratislava. They married and escaped communism in 1948. The established a  post-war life in Australia, where they raised a son born in 1961. The book was a massive best-seller a few years ago, although it has been modestly criticized for some embellishments along the way.  It is, regardless, a great love story. I suspect that for those who know nothing about the camps, this book serves a slightly educational purpose. It fails though to present the enormity of evil at Auschwitz and Birkenau.