Publishers Weekly
09/04/2023
Australian ER doctor Bernard debuts with an evocative account of gradually learning what his father, Henry Bierzynski Bernard (1920–2016), went through during the Holocaust. Born in 1955, Bernard grew up unaware of his Jewish heritage. It was only in 1979 that his father began to share his experiences, revealing that he had been interned in Auschwitz. Still, it took more than 20 years for Henry to relate the full story. In the 1930s, the Nazis used local Jewish councils to control the Jewish populations in areas they occupied, including Henry’s hometown of Tomaszow, Poland. In 1939, Henry’s father, a council member, requested that Henry join the Jewish police force the Nazis had compelled the council to create, hoping to ensure that the force was composed of “honest” people. Henry continued in that role for years, acting as ethically as possible under the circumstances, but was later haunted by the idea that he’d “unknowingly assisted the Nazis in their murderous plans.” Bernard’s narrative combines recollections of a childhood spent adoring his father (even as his parents’ marriage couldn’t withstand Henry’s obsessive behavior and bouts of melancholy) and Henry’s harrowing story, which is full of crushing moments, including his futile attempt to save his mother from being transported to a death camp. The result is a standout new addition to the literature of the Holocaust. (Sept.)
From the Publisher
Praise for The Ghost Tattoo
“This extraordinary narrative is a powerful instance of the transgenerational impact of the Holocaust, but, above all, a remarkable examination of the position of a Ghetto Policeman and the guilt he carried, if he survived, into later life.” —Thomas Keneally, New York Times bestselling author of Schindler’s List
“Bernard’s narrative combines recollections of a childhood spent adoring his father (even as his parents’ marriage couldn’t withstand Henry’s obsessive behavior and bouts of melancholy) and Henry’s harrowing story, which is full of crushing moments, including his futile attempt to save his mother from being transported to a death camp. The result is a standout new addition to the literature of the Holocaust.” —Publishers Weekly
“In the spirit of the very best of Holocaust literature, The Ghost Tattoo is intensively moving, exhaustively researched, and rendered in almost cinematographic detail. This search for the truth grips from the very first page. Deeply evocative and truly revelatory, it taught me so much. I will need to return again and again, to relearn, refresh, and remember.” —Damien Lewis, internationally bestselling author
“Henry Bernard, a Jewish medical student in France, races back to his family in Poland just before the outbreak of World War II. Considered by his father to be incorruptible, Henry feels duty-bound to join the collaborationist Jewish police of his town to mediate between the local Jews and the German invaders. The Ghost Tattoo is a riveting account of his impossible moral choices as a small-town Jewish policeman in Nazi-occupied Poland when faced with the horrifying cascade of anti-Jewish laws, oppression, plunder, daily shootings, and ultimate mass murder of the Jews of his town. The story is masterfully written by his son, Tony Bernard, who struggles to uncover this painful history through his father’s first-hand testimony. Tony strives to come to grips with the full range and implications of his father’s personhood and penetrate the post-traumatic cloud that hung over their supposed happy-ever-after life as two generations of beloved doctors in Australia. This is a unique and monumental work—at once heartbreaking and heartwarming.” —Scott Lenga, author of The Watchmakers
“The Ghost Tattoo documents the incredible personal story of Henry Bierzynski Bernard and his struggles to survive the ghettos and concentration camps, as well as his post-war life in Australia. Told by his son, Tony Bernard, the author brings to life singular insights into many aspects of the war and resistance not often told with such honesty and fervor. While the book naturally portrays brutal events that make reading it difficult at times, it is beautifully written and is a powerful tribute to his father’s fortitude.” —Adena Bernstein Astrowsky, author of Living among the Dead: My Grandmother’s Holocaust Survival Story of Love and Strength
“Can anyone truly grasp the enormity of the Holocaust, other than those who experienced it? To comprehend the scale of evil and suffering is one thing; to fathom the dilemmas faced by survivors is entirely another. Author Tony Bernard tried, as part of his quest to understand the demons that haunted his father. The result is a brilliant memoir that joins the essential canon of this awful moment in human history.” —Tom Young, author of Silver Wings, Iron Cross and Red Burning Sky
