The Dressmakers of Auschwitz: The True Story of the Women Who Sewed to Survive

Description

The powerful chronicle 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 Hoss, 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.

Lucy Adlington is a British novelist and historian with more than twenty years experience researching social history and writing fiction and non-fiction for YA and adult readers. Adlington also runs History Wardrobe, a company which makes costume-in-context talks across the UK, with some 100 presentations a year and a hugely loyal fan base. Adlington is the author of seven novels including the Carnegie-nominated, critically-acclaimed The Red Ribbon. Her non-fiction publications include: Women's Lives and Clothes in WWII: Ready for Action (Pen & Sword, 2019); Stitches in Time - the Story of the Clothes we Wear (Penguin Random House, 2016) Lucy Adlington lives on a farm in Yorkshire.

Compelling... Adlington tells the stories of the women with clarity and steely precision. * Jewish Chronicle *