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

by Lucy Adlington

Excellent!  In some ways it was hard to read (as in sorrowful) but so worth it.  The author introduces the reader to a number of young, female seamstresses as they grow into adulthood in Slovakia, Czechoslovakia, Germany, and France and then find themselves prisoners in the Auschwitz-Birkenau concentration camp where they were eventually selected to become seamstresses in a salon for the wives of Nazi leaders.  (I can’t imagine having to do a work I love for people who treat me like vermin.) 

Without being too graphic the author presents the situation of the captives and takes us into the concentration camp, showing the reader several areas of the camp including Kanada, warehouses of looted goods from captured Jews.  It was almost a behind-the-scenes look at some aspects of Auschwitz.

It was interesting to learn how friendships formed and how some prisoners supported each other, creating solidarity.

The book is based on research and interviews with 98-year-old Bracha Berkovic Kohút, and daughters, granddaughters, and other family members of those who were in Auschwitz.

Early in the book the author discussed how fashion can create unity (and to some extent, pride) in a group of people, something I had never thought about.  Think Boy Scout uniforms to military uniforms and even national folk costumes.  Fashion can also create divisiveness.

I came away with two lessons/reminders:

• First, we are all human beings.  We should not let the color of skin, the nationality, the religion of an other individual become a reason to reject, taunt, bully, or in any way harm another person, either physically or emotionally.
• Second, resistance can be manifest in a variety of ways. 
  

More about the book at https://www.timesofisrael.com/sewing-for-survival-the-last-of-auschwitzs-forgotten-dressmakers-dies/

This is a video of the author, Lucy Adlington  who is a fashion historian.  On the video she talks about her research, and how clothing was important to the Germans.  She also shares some background information that isn't in the book.



It's a fabulous book and you will probably came way grateful for your own circumstances and amazed at the resilience of the dressmakers of Auschwitz. 

nm