Lale Sokolov

Ludwig ("Lali" or "Lale") Sokolov (; 28 October 1916 – 31 October 2006) was an Austro-Hungarian-born Slovak-Australian businessman and Holocaust survivor.

Biography

Lale Sokolov was born Ludwig Eisenberg on 28 October 1916 in Korompa, Kingdom of Hungary (now Krompachy, Slovakia). In April 1942, he was deported to Auschwitz as part of the Slovak government's participation in the Holocaust. He escaped that concentration camp, and returned to Czechoslovakia. Knowing only Gita Fuhrmannova's name, he went to Bratislava, the main entry point for returning survivors, to search for her. While the book was billed as historical fiction, it generated controversy because of a perception that its marketing and content suggested historical accuracy despite departures from the truth and presenting a hagiographic rendition of a complicated biography.