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Chapter 16
Themes
Key
LitCharts assigns a color and icon to each theme in The Tattooist of Auschwitz, which you can use to track the themes throughout the work.
Survival and Morality
Faith, Love, and Optimism
Unity, Sacrifice, and Empathy
Knowledge, Uncertainty, and Power
Summary
Analysis
Months pass. Lale witnesses death all around him, noting the many ways in which his fellow prisoners die. Still, he and Gita keep their Sunday tradition of meeting up, and Lale often bribes Gita’s kapo into letting them spend alone time in her empty block. Finally, Gita tells Lale that Cilka has become “the plaything of Schwarzhuber.” This troubles Lale deeply, and he notes aloud that it would be terrible if Cilka became pregnant. Hearing this, Gita says that Cilka won’t get pregnant because—like her—she hasn’t been getting her period. Embarrassed to have not figured this out for himself, Lale changes the subject by calling Cilka a hero. When Gita retorts that Cilka isn’t a hero but merely trying to survive, Lale insists that staying alive is a heroic act in the camp. “Choosing to live is an act of defiance,” he says.
Lale’s idea that “choosing to live is an act of defiance” aligns with his overall determination to survive his time at Birkenau. Although not everyone is capable of actively defying the Nazis, all prisoners can try to maximize their chances of survival. By framing Cilka as a hero, Lale not only celebrates her decision to stay alive but he also acknowledges that sometimes surviving in the concentration camps means enduring horrible treatment. And though Lale himself can’t do anything to save Cilka from Schwarzhuber, he can at the very least admire her strength and resilience.
Themes
