Ghost Tattoo

WINNER OF THE NATIONAL JEWISH BOOK AWARD FOR BEST HOLOCAUST MEMOIR For readers of The Tattooist of Auschwitz and The Watchmakers, a powerful, profoundly moving Holocaust memoir from a rarely told perspective—the story of a son’s quest to understand his father, a heroic, complicated Jewish survivor—and to uncover the hidden past and desperate choices he made when the Nazis recruited him to police his own people in their Polish ghetto. Growing up, Tony Bernard knew that his father, Henry, had been in Nazi concentration camps during World War II. He was familiar with the tattoo bearing his Auschwitz number—B1224—and the faint scar resulting from a suicide attempt while in a camp in Blizyn. As an Australian boy growing up on Sydney’s sunny Northern Beaches where Henry was a well-respected doctor, Tony simply accepted these facts. Only as a young man, on a trip to Poland with his father, did he begin to uncover the secrets that filled Henry with regret, anguish, and guilt. Henry’s experiences in the concentration camps were harrowing, and he survived through ingenuity, grit, and countless miracles of chance. Yet there was another, deeper story—of what happened before his deportation to the camps. In 1940, Henry was recruited into the Jewish Order Service in his Polish hometown—an organization set up by the Nazis to help maintain order among Jews. Like many other young recruits, Henry believed he would help protect his community. Instead, the ghetto police, as they became known, were forced to assist the Nazis in the subjugation and mistreatment of their own people. Faced daily with impossible choices, desperate to keep his loved ones alive, Henry was both victim and unwilling participant. The Ghost Tattoo is a haunting, emotionally resonant memoir of war and its aftermath. It is also a singular account of resistance, resilience, and hope. Henry was eventually called to Germany to testify in a trial against Nazi murderers, where his evidence proved pivotal. After decades of silence, he seized the chance to bear witness—for history, for his family, and for all those who did not survive.

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

Sacred tattoos, called 'sak yant' in Thailand, have been around Southeast Asia for centuries and afford protection from accident, misfortune, and crime. Young women get tattooed with love charms in order to attract partners, while adolescent men use the protective power of their yants in fights with rival youth gangs. For most though, the tattoos serve as reminders to follow a moral code that endorses positive behavior. During the application of a sak yant, the tattoo master establishes a series of life 'rules' that need to be closely adhered to, starting with Buddhism's first five precepts. Failure to observe the master's instructions will cause the sak yant to lose their power. Beautifully photographed these are tattoos that are the essence and 'key' to individual identity, a philosophy for living, the translation of soul to skin, as complex as the leaves of an autobiography, the story of a life.

The July/August 2014 issue features photo spread and interview w/ cover model Makani Terror, as well Sarah Ve, Josh Mario John, Anya Thorne, Tattoo Artists Charles Huurman, Christos Galiropoulos, Justin Buduo. Photographer Spotlight w/ Skyrocket Photography Artist interview by Daytime Emmy Award winning personality Todd Newton. Moldovan metal band Infected Rain. Coverage of the 2014 West Palm Beach ‘Tattoo Mania Expo’ and much much more…

When youth and maturity are combined, it is difficult to tell an intuitive feeling. It may be that her tender face is born with a little cuteness, or a little charm caused by a casual glance at her smart eyes. But now, it seems to be the touch of her lips, a little arrogance

Who would have known that the real purpose of the Bai Family was to help their eldest son form the Yin marriage. Just like this, I somehow managed to have two husbands, one of them foolishly sticking to me day and night, and the other one being arrogant and stubborn, who wouldn't let me sleep peacefully ...

Tattooing breaches the skin and can, therefore, cause a variety of complications. This book covers the full spectrum of issues clinical practitioners may encounter when treating affected patients. Introductory chapters include educational information on methods for tattooing, types of tattoos, tattoo inks, and tattoo ink toxicology. The focus is on the diagnosis and classification of tattoo complications. In this regard, a comprehensive atlas of acute and chronic complications serves as a valuable tool. Further chapters summarize available therapies, their rationale, and indication. This includes various medical and surgical treatments with a review of dermatome shaving. Lastly, tattoo removal by gold standard YAG lasers and the more recent pico-second lasers is discussed with the optimal therapeutic outcome in mind.

Ghosts of Archive draws on the discourses of deconstruction, intersectionality and archetypal psychology to mount an argument that archive is fundamentally and structurally spectral and that the work of archive is justice. Drawing on more than 20 years of the author’s research on deconstruction and archive, the book posits archive as an essential resource for social justice activism and as a source, or location, of soul for individuals and communities. Through explorations of what Jacques Derrida termed ‘hauntology’, Harris invites a listening to the call for justice in conceptual spaces that are non-disciplinary. He argues that archive is both constructed in relation to and beset by ghosts – ghosts of the living, of the dead and of those not yet born – and that attention should be paid to them. Establishing a unique nexus between a deconstructive intersectionality and traditions of ‘memory for justice’ in struggles against oppression from South Africa and elsewhere, the book makes a case for a deconstructive praxis in today’s archive. Offering new ideas about spectrality, banditry and archival activism, Ghosts of Archive should appeal to those working in the disciplines of archival science, information studies and psychology. It should also be essential reading for those with an interest in social justice issues, transitional justice, history, philosophy, memory studies and postcolonial studies.