The Tattooist of Auchswitz is based on the best-selling book of the same name (Image: Sky)
Sky viewers have raved about the TV drama The Tattooist of Auschwitz, which was released in 2024. The six-part series, based on the 2017 best-selling novel of the same name, follows the true story of Lali (played by Jonah Hauer-King), a 25-year-old Slovakian Jew, who was deported to Auschwitz in 1942.
Shortly after his arrival, Lali was offered a job tattooing numbers onto prisoner’s arms and took it to improve his chances of surviving in the Auschwitz II-Birkenau camp, which contributed to the killing of more than a million Jews during the Holocaust.
He later met a Slovakian woman (played by Anna Próchniak) when tattooing her prisoner number on her arm. It’s love at first sight for Lali and Gita, as he comes to know her, drives his will to survive.
The World War II series has a rating of 8.0/10 on IMDB and received rave reviews from fans, who admitted to “sobbing” through the “heartbreaking” episodes.
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The series follows the true story of Lali and Gita Sokolov (Image: Sky)
“The Tattooist of Auschwitz (2024): Really difficult and heartbreaking watch. Among the horrors, there lies a moving love story. This leaves a mark for a while – 8/10,” wrote one viewer as a second penned: “Read The Tattooist of Auschwitz a long time ago and catching up on the tv series. It’s heartbreaking all over again.”
Issuing a warning to those who watch, a third added: “Just binge watched The Tattooist of Auschwitz – oh my god! It was brutal and heartbreaking. I think I sobbed all through the last 3 episodes! Definitely worth a watch, but not for the faint-hearted.”
A fourth agreed: “Finished The Tattooist of Auschwitz this evening. How can you even put words to describe how watching that makes you feel!!? It was brilliant but painful and heartbreaking, not to mention complex.”
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Lali and Gita fell in love while in the Auschwitz II-Birkenau camp (Image: Sky)
Echoing this, another fan remarked: “I watched The Tattooist of Auschwitz in one sitting, I could not take my eyes off the screen. It’s so heavy & heartbreaking & to think about what’s happening in Palestine present day just makes me so angry. How could we let this happen again?”
A sixth emotional viewer said: “Watching the Tattooist of Auschwitz and this might be the first time I’ve liked a show or movie better than the original book. I’ve never seen something so so heartbreaking but beautiful at the same time and they’ve portrayed it so well.”
New Zealand novelist Heather Morris brought Lali Sokolov (sometimes spelled Lale) and Gita’s story to life in the book, which has now been published in 47 languages.
She learned the details through Lali himself, who told her: “I tattooed her number on her left hand, and she tattooed her number in my heart.”