Wolf by Wolf

Yael’s most disturbing early memories involve Geyer’s needles injecting poison into her system and the changes to her skin that these injections create. Yael relives her concentration camp experience with a twist by choosing to receive tattoos years later. Needles are essential to creating tattoo art, and they are injected under the skin to change physical appearance. Initially, Yael’s perception of tattoos is anything but positive. A number is inked into her arm when she first arrives at the concentration camp. For years following her escape, she can barely stand to look at the tattoo because it reminds her of what she became. The camp tattoo is a symbol of weakness and victimization. Yael’s mentor, Vlad, teaches her to face her past without flinching.

Once she stops running from her painful memories, Yael is able to master the experience. The external symbol of this mastery is another set of tattoos inked over the original. While she might have chosen to erase the original camp tattoo, her decision to ink over it is an acknowledgment that the scars of the past will never go away. Yael chooses a wolf pack as the image to place over her camp ID number, thereby superimposing strength over weakness.