The Dressmakers of Auschwitz

by Lucy Adlington, Unknown Author

A compelling account of women who employed their sewing talents to endure the Holocaust, crafting exquisite garments in an exceptional fashion studio within a notorious WWII death camp. At the Holocaust's peak, twenty-five young inmates, predominantly Jewish women and girls, were chosen to create elegant fashions for elite Nazi women in a dedicated salon, hoping this work would spare them from the gas chambers. Established by Hedwig Hss, the camp commandant's wife, and frequented by SS officers' wives, this studio, known as the Upper Tailoring Studio, produced high-quality garments for SS events and Nazi Berlin's elite. Historian Lucy Adlington, drawing from diverse sources including interviews with the last surviving seamstress, traces these courageous women's fates. Their familial and friendly bonds not only aided their endurance but also enabled them to contribute to camp resistance. By interweaving the dressmakers' extraordinary experiences with Nazi policies of plunder and exploitation, Adlington reveals the greed, cruelty, and hypocrisy of the Third Reich, offering a novel perspective on an obscure chapter of World War II and the Holocaust. A supplemental enhancement PDF accompanies the audiobook.

Unknown Binding

About the author

I am fascinated by the stories clothes can tell about the people who made, sold and wore them.
My latest non-fiction book is 'The Dressmakers of Auschwitz', revealing the lives and fates of a remarkable group of mainly Jewish women who sewed to survive in a fashion salon established by the camp commandant's wife. It has been a privilege to bring these stories into the light.
'Women's Lives & Clothes in WW2' is a global overview of the 1940s, drawing on interviews with veterans and items from my vintage collection.
History is also the inspiration for my YA novels, including 'The Red Ribbon', 'Sunmerland', 'The Burning Mountain' and 'The Glittering Eye'
In between all this writing I give presentations on costume history - such a fabulous job: www.historywardrobe.com @historywardrobe
I love switching off with crime thrillers (Lee Child, Agatha Christie...) or with biographies