The son of the Auschwitz tattoo artist visits the camp for the first time | Television and radio | Entertainment and television world

Walking through those infamous huge iron gates, under the ominous sign ‘Arbeit macht frei’ (work makes you free), a terrified Gary Sokolov couldn’t stop his legs from shaking.

Knowing he was about to witness the horror of his parents’ past and desperate to honor them, the buildup of emotions left him devastated.

Before the 80th anniversary of the liberation of the Auschwitz-Birkenau concentration camps, on January 27, 1945, the only son of the “tattooist of Auschwitz”, the Slovak Jew Lali Sokolov (sometimes spelled Lale), was visiting the famous extermination camp for the first time in memory of his late parents.

His pilgrimage to the site of the execution of six million of his fellow Jews was being filmed for a new Sky History documentary to be broadcast on the anniversary.

Many readers will already be familiar with her parents’ incredibly touching love story documented in the best-selling 2017 novel “The Tattoo Artist of Auschwitz” by Lale’s former caretaker and housekeeper, Heather Morris, and the television miniseries starring Harvey Keitel last year.

But for the first time, the couple’s only son has seen firsthand what his heroic parents endured and survived during World War II.

In an exclusive interview, Gary, 63, told the Express: “I was absolutely terrified of going to Auschwitz, but I didn’t want to let dad down.

“I didn’t know if I had the guts to do it, but there were a lot of unanswered questions.

“However, as I walked through the doors, under Arbeit macht frei, my knees were shaking so much that I had to stop filming until I could pull myself together and get my legs working properly. “I was sobbing and feeling like a coward.”

The worst was yet to come for Gary when he was taken on a behind-the-scenes tour of the camp and realized the full horror of what happened there 80 years ago.

“Going through those doors wasn’t even the hardest part. The most difficult thing was seeing the Crematoriums. Dad said “Crematoriums three” over and over again before he died.

“I don’t think I’ve ever cried like that in my life. When I left there I could see that the director also had his eyes wide open and had to call his wife.

“Afterwards I had no emotion left. I felt completely exhausted. It was emotionally horrible.

“But at the same time, following in my parents’ footsteps was very special. “I don’t think I would have felt closer to them than there.”

Gary’s parents, Lali and Gita, met and fell in love while prisoners at Auschwitz-Birkenau.

Lali was forced to work as a tattoo artist in the camp, tattooing prisoners’ numbers on her arms when the Nazis exchanged the names and identities of new arrivals for a number.

During his three years in Auschwitz, from 1942 to 1945, Lali, a 25-year-old Jew from Krompachy in Slovakia, would tattoo hundreds of thousands of prisoners, with the help of assistants.

One of the people he tattooed was his fellow Slovak Gita Furman.

“I tattooed her number on her left hand and she tattooed her number on my heart,” Lali would later tell author Heathe in the book about their love story.
These forced tattoos, with numbers shaky and marked against pale forearms, have become one of the most recognizable symbols of the Holocaust and its deadliest field.

Lali met Gita for the first time in July 1942 and their connection was instantaneous.

He would send him letters, provided by a guard, as well as additional rations. They met secretly on Sundays, their only day of rest.

They lost contact in 1945 when she was sent to the Mauthausen camp, just two days before the Russian advance.
Lali later managed to escape, swimming across the Danube to avoid capture, and traveled back to Slovakia on horseback, where he searched for Gita and miraculously found her.

Desperate to get as far away from Europe as possible, they, like 127,000 Jewish refugees, mostly Holocaust survivors, moved to Australia, where their only son, Gary, lives today in Melbourne.

Gita died in 2003, aged 78, while Lali died in 2007, aged 90.

Gary takes up the story: “Before he died, Dad said he wanted to go back to Auschwitz.

“Mom had returned to Slovakia before she died, but dad was never able to return.

“I said ‘really dad, are you sure?’ but he said he finally needed to come back to apologize to all the people he couldn’t save and I think he had a deep sense of guilt.

“I should have called into work the next day, taken a couple of weeks off and gone with him.

“Five weeks later he passed away, so we never had the chance.

“I really regret not having gone together.

“So when the offer to do the documentary came up, I finally had the opportunity to apologize on behalf of my father, which was a huge relief for me.”

Before visiting the countryside, Gary was taken to Slovakia, where he visited his parents’ childhood homes and his father’s school.

“I collected stones from both villages so I could put them on their graves every time I visited them.

“It is a Jewish tradition to put a stone on a grave.

“I am very happy to have been able to see all those places and meet family members and people who knew them and who are still alive today.

“If I had been at camp first, it wouldn’t have been such a happy memory.”

After visiting Slovakia, Gary and the documentary team traveled to Poland.

Gary said: “They took me to areas that aren’t on the tour.

“I went to the area where my mother was in Birkenau. “The immensity of Birkenau was amazing.

“The entire production. The way the Germans made sure there was absolutely no waste, like even hair collected to be sent to weaving companies.

“They took me to dad’s ward, the gypsy camp and the punishment wing.

“I even saw the box they put my dad in on the punishment block. I snuck in there.

“It was so small. I tried to imagine three people there. You had to stand all night. “You could hardly breathe.”

Gary visited the execution yard where prisoners would be shot in the back of the head, where their blood soaked three feet underground.

He saw the horrific living conditions, the gas chambers, the conveyor belts that would transport the piles of naked corpses from the chamber to the crematoriums.

He saw the railroads bringing Jews from all over Europe and the tiny wooden cars carrying 80 people, many of whom suffocated before they even arrived.

“Seeing what my parents experienced firsthand has made me understand a little about what they were protecting me from by never talking about it.

“I was never talked to about it growing up.

“Dad was so hardened in some ways that Mom was often very depressed.

“However, Dad was always anxious. I couldn’t look back.

“I remember one time I came home from school. I must have been about 12 or 13 years old and the house had gone up for sale and they were taking away my car. Dad had gone bankrupt.

“I expected to go home and cry, but mom was in the kitchen singing and cooking.

“She just said that when you’ve been through what they’ve been through, you can handle anything and she said Dad had always looked out for her and she trusted him always to.”

Gary is now a father to two daughters, Aviva and Marley (checking spelling of names and ages) and he took them to his parents’ graves so they could place the stones he had recovered from Slovakia to place in their graves.

And he added: “Since Auschwitz I am now a different person. Somehow I feel lighter and at peace.

Gary also says that his Jewish identity is more important to him now than ever.

“My Jewish faith is exceptionally important to me because my parents survived and I don’t want them to have survived for no reason.

“For me it is important that they have Jewish grandchildren in the world even if they have never had the opportunity to meet them.

“It’s also very important to me to keep the religion alive, strong.”

Gary strictly observes the Sabbath, no phones, no computers, no cars.

Instead, he plays and talks with his kids, plays board games, and goes to the park.

“I love spending time with my family without distractions. I love Jewish traditions. We light many candles.

“My religion is extremely important to me. It is the reason why six million people died.”

He feels a duty to keep new generations informed about the Holocaust and challenge those who deny it.

He added: “I have never met a Holocaust survivor who wanted to talk about their experiences, but I will continue to do so.

And he says that, like his parents, he believes that no matter how terrible a situation is, especially in war, there is always hope.

“My mom and dad were lucky to survive and I am the result of one of the most amazing romances in the most horrible place.

“That’s why I would say to all those people who suffer around the world because of war: there is always hope. There will be better days.”

* The tattoo artist’s son: Trip to Auschwitz, History of Skjy, Monday, January 27, 9 p.m.