The Ghost Tattoo

Book excerpt: The profoundly moving story of a son's quest to uncover his father's Holocaust secret. SHORTLISTED FOR THE 2023 NATIONAL BIOGRAPHY AWARD To the outside world, Henry Bernard was a hard-working and beloved family doctor on Sydney's Northern Beaches. Yet he was also a Holocaust survivor whose life was profoundly affected by the experiences of his past. He took extreme steps for his family's security, keeping a rifle near his bedroom and covering up his family's Jewish origin. He was obsessed with paying off debt - the German word for debt being the same as the word for 'guilt'. He kept his striped Auschwitz uniform with a picture of his mother in his wardrobe. These obsessions helped destroy his marriage and restricted any hope he had of conventional domestic happiness. But Henry had a bigger secret and a deeper shame about what he had done during the war. He suffered privately until he began returning to Germany and Poland to confront his past and come to terms with the deaths of his parents and of Halina, the love of his life. The Ghost Tattoo is the story of how Tony Bernard, Henry's eldest son, went on a forty-year journey with his father to solve the mystery of why Henry was the way he was, and how he finally came to understand the desperate choices Henry had made in the ghetto to try to keep himself and his family alive. 'This extraordinary narrative is a powerful instance of the trans-generational impact of the Holocaust but, above all, a remarkable examination of the position of a ghetto policeman and the guilt he carried into later life.' —Tom Keneally, author of Schindler's List 'intensively moving, exhaustively researched, and rendered in almost cinematographic detail.' —Damien Lewis, internationally bestselling author 'a unique and monumental work—at once heartbreaking and heartwarming.' —Scott Lenga, author of The Watchmakers, National Jewish Book Award Finalist 'Can anyone truly grasp the enormity of the Holocaust, other than those who experienced it? Author Tony Bernard tried [and] 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 '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