Previous
Cilka
Pepan is the tattooist at Auschwitz-Birkenau before Lale. One day, he sees Aron pleading with an officer, begging him to take Lale off of a cart of sick and dying prisoners. When the officer turns his back, Aron drags Lale away. From this point on, Pepan starts helping nurse Lale back to health, figuring that he must be an extraordinary person, since Aron was willing to risk his life to save him. When Lale comes back to consciousness a week later, Pepan introduces himself, explaining that he’s a French economist who was taken by the Nazis for speaking out against their policies. He also explains that he’s the tattooist and that he needs an assistant, and when Lale voices his hesitation to accept the job, he notes that somebody will fill the position if he doesn’t. What’s more, Pepan says that the person who takes the job might not have as much compassion as Lale—an argument that convinces him. In the coming weeks, Pepan teaches Lale not only how to tattoo prisoners, but how to deal with the guards, urging him to adopt an attitude of subservience if he wants to survive. Shortly thereafter, Pepan disappears, and Lale is appointed as the camp’s tattooist. Despite his best efforts, Lale never learns what happened to Pepan.
Pepan Quotes in The Tattooist of Auschwitz
The The Tattooist of Auschwitz quotes below are all either spoken by Pepan or refer to Pepan. 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
“You want me to tattoo other men?”
“Someone has to do it.”
“I don’t think I could do that. Scar someone, hurt someone—it does hurt, you know.”
Pepan pulls back his sleeve to reveal his own number. “It hurts like hell. If you don’t take the job, someone will who has less soul than you do, and he will hurt these people more.”
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:
Get the entire The Tattooist of Auschwitz LitChart as a printable PDF.
Pepan Quotes in The Tattooist of Auschwitz
The The Tattooist of Auschwitz quotes below are all either spoken by Pepan or refer to Pepan. 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
“You want me to tattoo other men?”
“Someone has to do it.”
“I don’t think I could do that. Scar someone, hurt someone—it does hurt, you know.”
Pepan pulls back his sleeve to reveal his own number. “It hurts like hell. If you don’t take the job, someone will who has less soul than you do, and he will hurt these people more.”
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:
