The incredible love story of the Tattooist of Auschwitz: Jewish prisoner fell for woman he was forced to mark, arranged secret meetings within the death camp... then found her once they were free

Lale Sokolov was born Ludwig Eisenberg to Jewish parents in Slovakia in 1916
He was sent to Auschwitz - the Nazis' largest death camp - in 1942 at 26 years old
After contracting typhoid in the camp, Sokolov became a tattooist apprentice
It was July 1942 when he was given the arm of a young woman to tattoo the numbers 34902 on, and found out her name was Gita Fuhrmannova
The couple started sending secret letters to each other and eventually fell in love
They were separated when leaving the camp in 1945 and reunited months later
The couple wed in October 1945 and went to Australia to start a new life together

Published: 17:56 GMT, 8 January 2018 | Updated: 20:03 GMT, 11 January 2018

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The secret love story of a holocaust prisoner known as the 'Tattooist of Auschwitz' and his wife - a woman he was forced to ink at the horrific concentration camp - has been revealed for the first time in a new book.

Lale Sokolov - born Ludwig 'Lale' Eisenberg to Jewish parents in Slovakia in 1916 - met his wife Gita Fuhrmannova when he tattooed the identification number '34902' on her skin at Auschwitz in 1942.

While in the camp, they smuggled each other letters through an SS guard and had secret meetings by her block before they were separated upon release.

It wasn't until weeks later that they were reunited in Bratislava, where they wed in 1945 before fleeing to Australia to live out the rest of their lives.

Sokolov kept the stories of his time in Auschwitz secret for more than 50 years, until he told them to writer Helen Morris in the three years before he died in 2006.

Now, in the writer's new book, The Tattooist of Auschwitz, Morris tells how Sokolov met wife, Gita, and how they came to live in Australia after World War II.

Lale Sokolov - born Ludwig 'Lale' Eisenberg to Jewish parents in Slovakia in 1916 - met his wife, Gita Fuhrmannova, when he tattooed her at Auschwitz in 1942. While in the camp they smuggled each other letters through an SS guard and had secret meetings by her block before they were separated upon release

It wasn't until weeks after they left the camp that they were reunited in Bratislava, where they wed in 1945 before fleeing to Australia to live out the rest of their lives. Gita and Sokolov pictured together before their deaths in 2003 and 2016, respectively

Auschwitz and its sub-camps, Birkenau and Monowitz, were the only places prisoners received number tattoos. Pictured above, a young man checks the numbers tattooed on the arms of Jewish Polish prisoners coming from Auschwitz, in Dachau concentration camp after its liberation by the US army at the end of April 1945

Sokolov was taken to Auschwitz - the Nazis' biggest death camp - in 1942 when he was 26 years old.

He contracted typhoid shortly after his arrival and was taken care of by the man who had tattooed his camp number, 32407, on his arm.

The Frenchman took him under his wing by teaching him the trade and made him into his assistant.

Eventually, Sokolov was made into the main tattooist, partly because he spoke several languages, including Slovakian, German, Russian, French, Hungarian and Polish.

As the tattooist, he worked in the Political Wing of the SS and tattooed hundreds of thousands of prisoners. A guard was assigned to look after him at all times.

'He never, ever saw himself as being a collaborator,' Morris told the BBC. 'He did what he did to survive. He said he wasn't told he could have this job or that job.

Sokolov was taken to Auschwitz - the Nazis' biggest death camp - in 1942 when he was 26 years old. Gita arrived a year later

Sokolov, pictured with Gita, contracted typhoid shortly after his arrival and was taken care of by the man who had tattooed his camp number, 32407, on his arm. He then became the man's apprentice and later the camp's main tattooist

He fell in love with Gita (pictured above with the couple's one son) when he was forced to tattoo a camp ID on her when she first arrived at Auschwitz

After being released from Auschwitz, Sokolov waited at a train station for weeks in hopes of finding Gita. On his way to a nearby Red Cross, a woman stepped in front of his horse - it was Gita

'He said you took whatever was being offered. You took it and you were grateful because it meant that you might wake up the next morning.'

Auschwitz and its sub-camps, Birkenau and Monowitz, were the only places prisoners received number tattoos.

Prisoners were only tattooed at the camp between autumn 1941 and spring of 1943.

It was in July 1942 when he was given the arm of a young woman to tattoo the numbers 34902 on.

He later said that she 'tattooed her number on his heart', according to the BBC.

It was then he learned that the woman's name was Gita Fuhrmannova, and she was in the women's camp at Birkenau.

With the help of his personal SS guard who watched over him because of his job, he was able to sneak letters to Gita.

He snuck Gita extra food rations and moved her to a better work station within the concentration camp.

Sokolov was made into the main tattooist, partly because he spoke several languages, including Slovakian, German, Russian, French, Hungarian and Polish. As the tattooist, he worked in the Political Wing of the SS and tattooed hundreds of thousands of prisoners. A guard was assigned to look after him at all times

Sokolov was taken to Auschwitz (women pictured at the camp above) - the Nazis' biggest death camp - in 1942 when he was 26 years old

The couple soon were able to have secretive meetings outside of her block.

'Gita, she had her doubts, very strong doubts,' Morris writes. 'She didn't see a future. He always, deep down, knew that he was going to survive.

'He didn't know how, but it comes back to that whole notion of being a survivor. He's a survivor because of luck, being in the right place at the right time, and being able to manipulate opportunities that he saw.'

In 1945, Gita was selected to leave Auschwitz before the Russians arrived.

Sokolov left the camp soon after and made his way back to his hometown of Krompachy in Czechoslovakia using jewels he had stolen from the Nazis.

He found that his sister Goldie had also survived, as well as their family home.

But who he truly wanted to see was Gita.

He traveled to Bratislava in a horse and cart, hoping Gita would make her way through the city, which at the time was an entry point for people returning to Czechoslovakia.

With the help of his personal SS guard who watched over him because of his job, he was able to sneak letters around the camp to Gita

Documents in Morris's book revealed Sokolov's ID number, as well as others who lived in the concentration camp

The couple married in October 1945, but Sokolov was soon arrested after the government learned he was sending money to support an Israeli state. So Sokolov and Gita fled the country, making their way to Vienna, then Paris before deciding to head to Australia, where they lived out the rest of their lives Iin Melbourne

He waited at a train station for weeks until a stationmaster told him to check out the nearby Red Cross.

On his way there, however, a woman stepped in front of his horse - it was Gita.

The couple married in October 1945, but Sokolov was soon arrested after the government learned he was sending money to support an Israeli state.

So Sokolov and Gita fled the country, making their way to Vienna, then Paris before deciding to head to Australia, where they lived out the rest of their lives in Melbourne.

Sokolov started a textile business, Gita began designing dresses, and they had one son together in 1961.

Gita returned to Europe a few times before she died in 2003. Sokolov never returned before his death in 2006.

The former tattooist died in 2006, but before his death he told the stories of his imprisonment to Morris for her book, the Tattooist of Auschwitz.

Her book will be released in the UK on 11 January, 2018.

AUSCHWITZ: THE MOST NOTORIOUS OF THE NAZI CONCENTRATION CAMPS

Perhaps the most notorious of all the Nazi concentration camps, 1.1million Jews were killed at Auschwitz.

The camp consisted of three main parts: Auschwitz I (the base camp) Auschwitz II - Birkenau (the extermination camp) and Auschwitz III - Monowitz (the labour camp).

During the war, the camp was staffed by 6,500 to 7,000 members of the infamous SS - 15 per cent of whom were later convicted of war crimes.

It was run by camp commandant Rudolf Höss who was tried and hanged in 1947 for his part in the extermination.

During World War II, Auschwitz was staffed by 6,500 to 7,000 members of the infamous SS - 15 per cent of whom were later convicted of war crimes

The 'Arbeit Macht Frei' sign, meaning 'work sets you free', was inscribed on the gates of concentration camps to mislead prisoners into thinking the only way of securing their freedom was labour.

SS General Theodor Eicke, inspector of concentration camps, reportedly ordered the use of the slogan.

Some historians believe it has a less literal meaning and instead was intended as a declaration that self-sacrifice in the form of endless labour brings a kind of spiritual freedom.

For 1.1million people, Auschwitz meant death.

For many others, this dismal railway town in southern Poland was a horrific transit point on the way to being murdered somewhere else – in a labour camp or on a 'death march' to another prison-mortuary.

Among the many millions who met their death here were Poles, gypsies and Soviet prisoners of war.

Only 8,000 emaciated prisoners were still inside Auschwitz and its sub-camps when Stalin's forces arrived in January 1945.

The rest were already being herded across central Europe with just flimsy pyjamas and wooden clogs to protect them against the winter. Most were dead by the time Europe was liberated in May 1945.

The day the camp was liberated by the Red Army on January 27 1945 has subsequently been declared International Holocaust Remembrance Day.

Following its liberation the camp has become a symbol of the holocaust and has operated as a museum since 1947.