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Chapter 22
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
One day, Lale and Gita hear a nearby explosion. Running out from behind the administration building, they hear yet another explosion, which they can tell has come from one of the crematoriums. There is smoke rising from the building. Prisoners are running outside as SS officers shoot machine guns at the Sonderkommando, who are firing their own guns from atop the crematorium. The SS make quick work of the situation, defeating the Sonderkommando, at which point Lale grabs Gita and he holds her against a wall as yet another explosion sounds from one of the other crematoriums. After shooting at prisoners ducking for cover, the Nazis issue an announcement over loudspeakers, saying that everyone should go back to their blocks and that they won’t be shot if they do this right away.
Complete chaos reigns in this passage for perhaps the first time throughout the entire novel. Although Lale and Gita have no idea what’s going on, it’s clear that the Sonderkommando have decided to take a stand against the Nazis. Still, it remains unclear how, exactly, they obtained weapons or the ability to make explosives. More than ever, then, Lale and Gita find themselves lacking crucial information—information that has a direct impact on their safety, since they could have easily been caught in the cross-fire of this unexpected uprising.
Themes
Gita and Lale return to their blocks. That night, Lale leaves his room and he talks to the new population of people living in his block, most of whom are Hungarian men. They tell him that a group of prisoners working in the ammunition factory have been sneaking explosives to the Sonderkommando, who have been fashioning makeshift grenades. In addition, the prisoners amassed a store of weapons. Going on, Lale’s new blockmates tell him that rumors have been working their way through the camp about this retaliation, though they note that the uprising was supposed to coincide with a Russian attack on the camp from the outside—something that people have been saying will soon happen, though the prisoner’s insurrection obviously came at the wrong time. Hearing this information, Lale begins to feel optimistic about the future and he realizes that he should speak to his blockmates more often.
Although the Sonderkommando’s uprising is unsuccessful, the mere fact that they were able to take a stand in this manner serves as a comforting reminder that the prisoners aren’t as powerless as it might otherwise seem. Furthermore, news about the Russian Army suggests that the outside world is finally beginning to take a stand against the Nazis, and though the Sonderkommando’s insurrection didn’t end up coinciding with an external attack on the camp, the simple fact that this was ever a possibility is reason enough for Lale to reinvest himself in his faith that things will get better. To that end, his decision to speak to his blockmates more often is yet another indication that in the twisted world of the concentration camps, information is one of the most valuable tools for survival.
Themes
