The Dressmakers of Auschwitz: The True Story of the Women Who Sewed to Survive
Sep 2021 · Hachette UK
3.8star
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400
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About this ebook
*** The New York Times Bestseller ***
The powerful story of the women who used their sewing skills to survive the Holocaust, stitching beautiful clothes at an extraordinary fashion workshop created within one of the most notorious WWII death camps.
At the height of the Holocaust twenty-five young inmates of the infamous Auschwitz-Birkenau concentration camp - mainly Jewish women and girls - were selected to design, cut, and sew beautiful fashions for elite Nazi women in a dedicated salon. It was work that they hoped would spare them from the gas chambers.
This fashion workshop - called the Upper Tailoring Studio - was established by Hedwig Höss, the camp commandant's wife, and patronized by the wives of SS guards and officers. Here, the dressmakers produced high-quality garments for SS social functions in Auschwitz, and for ladies from Nazi Berlin's upper crust.
Drawing on diverse sources - including interviews with the last surviving seamstress - The Dressmakers of Auschwitz follows the fates of these brave women. Their bonds of family and friendship not only helped them endure persecution, but also to play their part in camp resistance. Weaving the dressmakers' remarkable experiences within the context of Nazi policies for plunder and exploitation, historian Lucy Adlington exposes the greed, cruelty, and hypocrisy of the Third Reich and offers a fresh look at a little-known chapter of World War II and the Holocaust.
'fascinating and original' - Alexandra Shulman
'Compelling... Adlington tells the stories of the women with clarity and steely precision' - Jewish Chronicle
'An utterly absorbing, important and unique historical read' - Judy Batalion
'Powerful... a fascinating account.' - Woman
The powerful story of the women who used their sewing skills to survive the Holocaust, stitching beautiful clothes at an extraordinary fashion workshop created within one of the most notorious WWII death camps.
At the height of the Holocaust twenty-five young inmates of the infamous Auschwitz-Birkenau concentration camp - mainly Jewish women and girls - were selected to design, cut, and sew beautiful fashions for elite Nazi women in a dedicated salon. It was work that they hoped would spare them from the gas chambers.
This fashion workshop - called the Upper Tailoring Studio - was established by Hedwig Höss, the camp commandant's wife, and patronized by the wives of SS guards and officers. Here, the dressmakers produced high-quality garments for SS social functions in Auschwitz, and for ladies from Nazi Berlin's upper crust.
Drawing on diverse sources - including interviews with the last surviving seamstress - The Dressmakers of Auschwitz follows the fates of these brave women. Their bonds of family and friendship not only helped them endure persecution, but also to play their part in camp resistance. Weaving the dressmakers' remarkable experiences within the context of Nazi policies for plunder and exploitation, historian Lucy Adlington exposes the greed, cruelty, and hypocrisy of the Third Reich and offers a fresh look at a little-known chapter of World War II and the Holocaust.
'fascinating and original' - Alexandra Shulman
'Compelling... Adlington tells the stories of the women with clarity and steely precision' - Jewish Chronicle
'An utterly absorbing, important and unique historical read' - Judy Batalion
'Powerful... a fascinating account.' - Woman
Ratings and reviews
3.8
5 reviews
Helen Little
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May 27, 2024
an amazing true story brilliantly written. words cannot be found for me describe my feelings for those poor people. but I do have at least one maybe many more to describe those cruel sadistic swines and that word is the only one I can put here and that is a very mild word the others are unprintable so bastards will have to do. Helen little Melbourne Australia.ps . at this time in Melbourne we are having problems with revolting young people spouting the same words that started all this all those years ago. it has to stop before it grows as it did then. by the way I am not Jewish but I do feel sick at what they went through..
About the author
Lucy Adlington is a British dress historian with more than twenty years' experience researching social history. Adlington runs History Wardrobe, a company which presents costume-in-context talks across the UK. Her non-fiction publications include: Women's Lives and Clothes in WWII: Ready for Action and Stitches in Time - the Story of the Clothes we Wear.
Lucy Adlington lives on a farm in Yorkshire.
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