The global bestselling novel The Tattooist of Auschwitz – a searing historical and biographical drama about one of the grimmest times and places in history – comes to life on screen on M-Net (DStv Channel 101) and Showmax in a six-part series from Wednesday 28 August at 21:00.

It’s a tale told from within the cold heart of one of the darkest times in human history – but it offers hope in that two people could find love amidst the death and destruction. Prisoner Lali Sokol (The Little Mermaid’s Jonah Hauer-King) is a tattooist tasked with etching numbers into the flesh of those corralled into the death camp and he and fellow prisoner Gita (Anna Próchniak, The Innocents) fall in love as their paths cross. Their love story brings hope to the horror, and their story and subsequent escape is based solely on a much older Lali's (Academy Award nominee Harvey Keitel) recollection as told to the narrator (Melanie Lynskey, Yellowjackets) many decades later.

What became Heather Morris’s bestselling 2018 novel was originally written as a screenplay and based on her interviews with the real Lali Sokov after Gita’s death. Morris met with him for three years until his death in 2006 to hear his story about his time with Gita in Auschwitz, where he told her about the trauma, pain, and survivor guilt that followed him for decades. The novel reached #1 on The New York Times bestseller list and has subsequently been translated and published in more than 47 languages, selling more than three million copies.

The Los Angeles Times’  Robert Lloyd wrote of the series “It's an honourable project, honourably made, moving at times, horrifying at others, in broad strokes and small details”. Brian Lowry said on CNN.com that “The Tattooist of Auschwitz stands apart from the crowd, thanks in part to the quality of its performances, not just by documenting the barbarity of the Nazis but the sprigs of humanity that managed to bloom during the darkest of times". Variety’s Amber Dowling wrote that “The Tattooist of Auschwitz puts the dichotomy of the human spirit on full display, showing the possibility of love and the unimaginable monstrosity that hatred can bring.”

The series features an original score by Academy Award winner Hans Zimmer and an original song written and performed by Barbra Streisand.

The Tattooist of Auschwitz premieres on DStv Premium on M-Net (Channel 101) on Wednesday 28 August at 21:00 and will also be available on Showmax, DStv Catch Up, and DStv Stream. Join the conversation on Facebook, X, Instagram, and TikTok using #MNet101.