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Pepan
Aron is a young man Lale meets in the cattle car on the way to Auschwitz-Birkenau. A kind and curious person, Aron looks to Lale for comfort and advice, asking questions about what Lale thinks will happen to them. Upon arriving at the camp, Aron and Lale become bunkmates, and they cheer each other up by joking about their circumstances and generally remaining positive. When Lale contracts typhus, Aron is the one who pulls him off of the Nazi’s cart of dead and dying prisoners—an act of heroism that Pepan witnesses. In turn, Pepan decides to take Lale on as an assistant, assuming he must be a remarkable person because of the risk Aron took to save his life. Unfortunately, though, Aron ends up dying because of this selfless act. When a kapo comes looking for Lale, Aron tells him that he’s already been taken away. This upsets the kapo so much that he decides to punish Aron, taking him away from his fellow prisoners, who never see him again. In the aftermath of this event, Aron’s other bunkmates decide to help finish what Aron started, nursing Lale back to health because they were inspired by Aron’s commitment to the idea that “to save one is to save the world.”
Aron Quotes in The Tattooist of Auschwitz
The The Tattooist of Auschwitz quotes below are all either spoken by Aron or refer to Aron. For each quote, you can also see the other characters and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:
).
Chapter 2
Quotes
“Aron could have told him you were ill, but he feared the kapo would add you to the death cart again if he knew, so he said you were already gone.”
“And the kapo discovered the truth?”
“No,” yawns the man, exhausted from work. “But he was so pissed off, he took Aron anyway.”
Lale struggles to contain his tears.
The second bunkmate rolls onto his elbow. “You put big ideas into his head. He wanted to save ‘the one.’”
“To save one is to save the world,” Lale completes the phrase.
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Chapter 3
Quotes
Should I be fearful, now that I am privileged? Why do I feel sad about leaving my old position in the camp, even though it offered me no protection? He wanders into the shadows of the half-finished buildings. He is alone.
That night, Lale sleeps stretched out for the first time in months. No one to kick, no one to push him. in the luxury of his own bed, he feels like a king. And just like a king, he must now be wary of people’s motives for befriending him or taking him into their confidence. Are they jealous? Do they want my job? Do I run the risk of being wrongfully accused of something? He has seen the consequences of greed and mistrust here. […] He is sure that as he left the block and walked past the bunks of beaten men, he heard someone mutter the word “collaborator.”
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Aron Quotes in The Tattooist of Auschwitz
The The Tattooist of Auschwitz quotes below are all either spoken by Aron or refer to Aron. For each quote, you can also see the other characters and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:
).
Chapter 2
Quotes
“Aron could have told him you were ill, but he feared the kapo would add you to the death cart again if he knew, so he said you were already gone.”
“And the kapo discovered the truth?”
“No,” yawns the man, exhausted from work. “But he was so pissed off, he took Aron anyway.”
Lale struggles to contain his tears.
The second bunkmate rolls onto his elbow. “You put big ideas into his head. He wanted to save ‘the one.’”
“To save one is to save the world,” Lale completes the phrase.
Related Characters:
Related Themes:
Page Number and Citation:
Explanation and Analysis:
Chapter 3
Quotes
Should I be fearful, now that I am privileged? Why do I feel sad about leaving my old position in the camp, even though it offered me no protection? He wanders into the shadows of the half-finished buildings. He is alone.
That night, Lale sleeps stretched out for the first time in months. No one to kick, no one to push him. in the luxury of his own bed, he feels like a king. And just like a king, he must now be wary of people’s motives for befriending him or taking him into their confidence. Are they jealous? Do they want my job? Do I run the risk of being wrongfully accused of something? He has seen the consequences of greed and mistrust here. […] He is sure that as he left the block and walked past the bunks of beaten men, he heard someone mutter the word “collaborator.”
Related Characters:
Related Themes:
Page Number and Citation:
Explanation and Analysis:
