Lale Sokolov

Lale Sokolov was a Slovakian Jew who became the tattooist at Auschwitz-Birkenau concentration camp during World War II. Born in 1911 in Bratislava, Slovakia, Sokolov was a skilled tattoo artist before the war. He was arrested by the Nazis in 1943 and sent to Auschwitz, where he was forced to work as a tattooist. Sokolov's work at the camp was not only to tattoo prisoners but also to identify them by their tattoos, making it easier for the Nazis to track and deport them. Despite the harsh conditions, Sokolov managed to survive the war and was liberated by the Soviet army in 1945. After the war, Sokolov returned to Bratislava and lived a quiet life until his death in 2006. Sokolov's story was popularized by Heather Morris's novel 'The Tattooist of Auschwitz', which tells the story of his experiences at the camp.