Warning: The following story contains spoilers for the TV series “The Tattooist of Auschwitz.”
“The Tattooist of Auschwitz” is now available to watch, and some major plot points reside in the final 58 minutes.
The six-part series on Peacock tells the story of Lale Sokolov, a Slovakian Jew, who was held as a prisoner at Auschwitz concentration camp during World War II. After garnering respect from fellow prisoners and some Nazi soldiers, Lale, who also goes by Lali, becomes one of the camp’s tattooists, marking those entering with a number.
In the first episode, Lali is tasked with marking the arm of Gita Furman, and the two immediately fall for each other. The TV series “The Tattooist of Auschwitz” tells their love story, based on the bestselling 2018 novel by Heather Morris.
In the newly released show, Jonah Hauer-King plays a young Lali, Harvey Keitel plays an older Lali, Anna Próchniak portrays Gita and Melanie Lynskey plays Heather.
If you’ve just watched the final episode and are overwhelmed at how quickly the story moved, you likely aren’t alone. Here’s a breakdown of what happened at the end of “The Tattooist of Auschwitz.”
Lali works for the Russian authorities
After Lali escaped while being transported to another concentration camp, he stumbled upon a group of Russian authorities who gave him food and shelter in exchange for his work. In this final episode, the Russians task Lali with using his charm to invite women to “dances.”
Once the “dances” have begun, they lock Lali in his room. One night, though, he gets out to see what really happens at these events. To his disgusting shock, the Russian officers were sexually assaulting these women.
Gita escapes and makes her way to Bratislava
After escaping the female group leaving Auschwitz, Gita and her friend are temporarily taken in by a woman who gives them warm food, a bath and new clothes.
The two then set off to Bratislava, Slovakia, on foot, where Gita and Lali had agreed they would meet, and are seen hiding from soldiers traveling through the same wooded area. In one scene, they are crouched down in a ditch and eventually fall asleep. Gita then awakens to a soldier attempting to sexually assault her friend, and she beats him with a piece of wood. After successfully knocking him unconscious, the two run off to continue their journey.
Lali reunites with his sister
After the latest Russian “dance,” Lali takes an opportunity to escape after a soldier asks him to complete a task and leaves him alone in the town square. He asks to use a woman’s bike and rides away.
Lali is then seen at the same Slovakian train station he originally left his family at to head to Auschwitz. He makes his way to his childhood home, where he has an emotional reunion with his sister. While the two are catching up, she reveals to him that she’s been in hiding while their parents were taken days after he left for the camp.
Lali then tells his sister about Gita, which then prompts her to bring him a horse. She instructs him to take the horse to Bratislava to reunite with Gita.
Lali and Gita reunite in Bratislava and get married
Once in Bratislava, Lali writes a note to Gita and pins it to a board where messages go for people who are missing amid the Holocaust. In the meantime, Gita also arrives in Bratislava with her friend.
Originally, Lali had told her to meet at a department store, but the location had since closed. So, Gita wanders for a bit with her friend and even passes the boards, but she doesn’t see the note from Lali.
As she’s losing hope of finding him and goes to sit on the stairs, she sees Lali ride away on a horse and runs out to the street. She shouts, “Lali!” and he turns around, then the two run into each other’s arms for an emotional embrace.
The next time a young Lali and Gita are seen together, they are getting married with Gita’s friend and Lali’s sister by their sides.
Lali is asked to testify on behalf of an SS soldier
Some time after getting married, Lali and Gita are seen settled in Australia and one day, they are approached by Australian officials. The officers deliver a letter from Germany requesting that Lali provide testimony on behalf of SS soldier Stefan Baretzki, who presided over Lali during their time in Auschwitz. After the Australian officials leave, Gita says the SS soldier was a “monster” and while Lali didn’t disagree, he mentions that Stefan helped him and Gita while in the concentration camp.
Lali is visibly torn on what to do, but Gita is clear about her views that he should in no way stand up for this man. After fighting about it, Gita says she needs a moment to go visit Europe.
An older Lali then recalls a sequence of emotional events: his and Gita’s fighting, his moral decision whether to help the soldier and a hardship Gita was having around fertility.
Gita is pregnant
Gita arrives back home after her trip to Europe and the two seem grateful to see each other once again. Gita tells Lali that she almost didn’t get on the plane because she felt sick — and reveals that she is pregnant.
Lali asks Heather to accompany him on a trip to Auschwitz
At the end of the final episode, an older Lali and Heather are seen chatting on a bench. Lali asks Heather to join him on a trip to Auschwitz, where he says he hasn’t visited since he was held captive there. Heather asks if he would rather bring his son, and Lali reveals that he and Gita “never spoke to him about the past.” Heather then agrees to go with him.
In the last moments of the series, Lali appears to see one final vision of Gita sitting on their bed, holding their baby son. With a big smile on his face, Lali goes to lay next to her on the bed.
Showing spots around their home, the text on the screen then reveals that Lali died “peacefully” on Oct. 31, 2006. The text also read that 11 years later, Heather finally found a publisher for Lali’s story.
In the final scene, Heather is seen walking through Auschwitz alone.
All six episodes of “The Tattooist of Auschwitz” can now be streamed on Peacock, which is part of our parent company, NBCUniversal.