# The Tattooist of Auschwitz (TV series)

The Tattooist of Auschwitz is a 2024 historical drama miniseries based on the novel of the same name by Heather Morris. The cast includes Harvey Keitel, Melanie Lynskey, Jonah Hauer-King, and Anna Próchniak.

## Synopsis

Lali Sokolov, a Jewish prisoner in the Auschwitz-Birkenau concentration camp during World War II is given the job of tattooing identification numbers on fellow prisoners’ arms.

## Cast

* Harvey Keitel as "Lali" Sokolov
** Jonah Hauer-King as younger Lali
* Melanie Lynskey as Heather Morris
* Anna Próchniak as Gita
* Jonas Nay as Stefan Baretzki
* Tallulah Haddon as Hanna
* Mili Eshet as Ivana
* Avital Lvova [es] as Marta
* Yali Topol Margalith as Cilka
* Katie Bernstein as Goldie Sokolov
* Phénix Brossard [fr] as Leon
* Adam Karst as Pepan
* Yoav Rotman as Mordowicz
* Frederik von Lüttichau [de] as Houstek
* Oleksandr Yatsenko as Vlad

## Episodes

| No. | Title | Directed by | Written by | Original release date |
| 1 | "Episode 1" | Tali Shalom Ezer | Jacquelin Perske | May 2, 2024 (2024-05-02) |
| 2 | "Episode 2" | Tali Shalom Ezer | Jacquelin Perske | May 2, 2024 (2024-05-02) |
| 3 | "Episode 3" | Tali Shalom Ezer | Evan Placey | May 2, 2024 (2024-05-02) |
| 4 | "Episode 4" | Tali Shalom Ezer | Gabbie Asher | May 2, 2024 (2024-05-02) |
| 5 | "Episode 5" | Tali Shalom Ezer | Jacquelin Perske | May 2, 2024 (2024-05-02) |
| 6 | "Episode 6" | Tali Shalom Ezer | Jacquelin Perske | May 2, 2024 (2024-05-02) |

## Production

The Creative Director of Synchronicity Films, Claire Mundell secured the rights to The Tattooist of Auschwitz after making a deal with Bonnier Books UK in 2018. In 2023 it was announced that Synchronicity Films were developing a six-part series for Sky Studios and Peacock. It will be directed by Tali Shalom Ezer with Jacquelin Perske as lead writer. Claire Mundell and Perske are among the executive producers. Australian streaming service Stan also co-commissioned the series, with All3Media onboard worldwide sales. The production got underway in the spring of 2023.

### Casting

In March 2023, Jonah Hauer-King, Anna Próchniak, and Melanie Lynskey were cast. In April 2023, Harvey Keitel joined the cast as older Lale Sokolov.

### Music

The series is being scored by Hans Zimmer and Kara Talve; the two wrote the music with Walter Afanasieff, lyrics by Charlie Midnight for the original song "Love Will Survive", performed by Barbra Streisand for the series closing. The song was released as a single on April 25, 2024.

## Broadcast

The series first aired on Peacock on 2 May 2024, and was broadcast in the UK on Sky Atlantic the same day.

## Reception

The review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes reported a 76% approval rating with an average rating of 6.5/10, based on 34 critic reviews. The website's critics consensus reads, "A dramatization of atrocity and the fickleness of memory that can be difficult to watch, The Tattooist of Auschwitz is dramatically uneven but undeniably affecting." Metacritic, which uses a weighted average, assigned a score of 61 out of 100 based on 16 critics, indicating "generally favorable reviews".
Karl Quinn of The Sydney Morning Herald states that though the love story between Gita and Lali was compelling, the "willingness to grapple with the unreliability of memory that this Tattooist make [sic] its strongest mark."
Robert Lloyd of the Los Angeles Times wrote that Hauer-King and Próchniak were "sweet and sad" as Lali and Gita, with the conceit that "it's easier to see what he saw in her than what she saw in him" due to Próchniak making an "especially strong impression." Lloyd also said that the use of ghosts haunting Lali as a physical representation of his survivor's guilt felt trite due to overuse.

### Accolades

The series was nominated at the 23rd Visual Effects Society Awards in the category of Outstanding Supporting Visual Effects in a Photoreal Episode.