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Lucy Adlington
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The Dressmakers of Auschwitz: The True Story of the Women Who Sewed to Survive Kindle Edition

by Lucy Adlington (Author) Format: Kindle Edition
4.6 4.6 out of 5 stars 2,538 ratings
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A 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 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.

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  1. Print length
    391 pages
  2. Language
    English
  3. Sticky notes
    On Kindle Scribe
  4. Publisher
    Harper Paperbacks
  5. Publication date
    September 14, 2021
  6. File size
    29477 KB
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Editorial Reviews

Review

"Adlington has expertly interwoven these fascinating strands into an utterly absorbing, important and unique historical read." --Judy Batalion, New York Times bestselling author

About the Author

LUCY ADLINGTON is a British novelist and clothes historian with more than twenty years' experience researching social history and writing fiction and nonfiction. She lives in Yorkshire, UK.

Product details

  • ASIN ‏ : ‎ B08QJ93W1Y
  • Publisher ‏ : ‎ Harper Paperbacks (September 14, 2021)
  • Publication date ‏ : ‎ September 14, 2021
  • Language ‏ : ‎ English
  • File size ‏ : ‎ 29477 KB
  • Text-to-Speech ‏ : ‎ Enabled
  • Screen Reader ‏ : ‎ Supported
  • Enhanced typesetting ‏ : ‎ Enabled
  • X-Ray ‏ : ‎ Enabled
  • Word Wise ‏ : ‎ Enabled
  • Sticky notes ‏ : ‎ On Kindle Scribe
  • Print length ‏ : ‎ 391 pages
  • Customer Reviews:
    4.6 4.6 out of 5 stars 2,538 ratings

About the author

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Lucy Adlington

Lucy Adlington

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Customer reviews

4.6 out of 5 stars
4.6 out of 5
2,538 global ratings

Top reviews from the United States

Elizabeth A Willis
5.0 out of 5 stars A well written, page-turner of a book
Reviewed in the United States on April 7, 2024
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The true stories of the dressmakers, imprisoned in Auschwitz, are told with amazing detail, thanks to the extensive research by the author. It is not a novel, it is a compilation of history accuracy and personal stories of strong, brave women. I couldn’t put it down.
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Kindle Customer
5.0 out of 5 stars Powerful Book
Reviewed in the United States on March 29, 2024
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I thought I had read about a lot of things in the Holocaust but this book told so many more details! The author must have done years of research to collect all the information on each of these women's lives. It breaks your heart to read what they went through and yet some survived. Should be required reading in our high schools so we never forget. Very well written!
7 people found this helpful
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Kindle Customer
4.0 out of 5 stars A Labor of Scholarship and Love
Reviewed in the United States on April 7, 2024
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Kudos to the author for her painstaking research, tracking down survivors and their families, testimonies, and photos. Such a sad yet uplifting story. So much family destroyed and luck plus perseverance in the face of horror and inhumanity. I liked Adlington's theme of clothing as an enormous part of human culture and psychology. While these women's tailoring talents kept them alive and somewhat sheltered, it is disgusting that the Nazi wives got such professionally fitted clothing from free slave labor. What an insight into concentration camp life from the female prisoners' viewpoints. Beautifully written! The last quarter of the book is bibliography, notes and index.
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Sally L. Fiala
5.0 out of 5 stars Outstanding Documentation!
Reviewed in the United States on April 10, 2024
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If reading this book makes one uncomfortable, then it’s completed its goal. This was a fascinating look at a faction of the Holocaust few knew of outside of those who participated. These women (and the men who supported their efforts) were a machine within a machine, saving lives and each other, under the worst possible conditions and in a race to obliterate Jewishness in Europe. The arrogance of Nazi thinking is mind boggling. These were the people who “stood up” to their oppressors in creative and self-preserving ways that few of us, today, could fathom. The fact that ANYONE could say this never happened is beyond comprehension. I could hardly put this book down. While some of the situations were rehashed, it only portrayed the depth of destroying a people who contributed so much to their families, communities and countries. I see vestiges of this happening in more recent times and it turns my stomach. The contributions these women made pre-war, in the fashion industry, were amazing and to have it all taken away along with members of their family and community is gut wrenching. How they survived post war is amazing as well. I had no idea that these slave industries happened in concentration camps. A truly fascinating glimpse at survival under the most extreme, dehumanizing circumstances.
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T Jacobs
5.0 out of 5 stars Amazing story!
Reviewed in the United States on March 25, 2024
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I am still reading this book. It's a remarkable book on how these women survived the Nazi takeover.
4 people found this helpful
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Richard Owens
5.0 out of 5 stars A valuable addition to Holocaust literature
Reviewed in the United States on April 9, 2024
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Like other reviewers, I have read about extensively about the Holocaust and taught a lengthy unit for my eighth grade gifted/honors students. We visited the Holocaust museum in St. Petersburg, FL, and I invited survivors to speak to my classes.

So how did I never hear about the dressmakers of Auschwitz? Their stories are compelling. The fact that so many survived a thousand days in a DEATH camp attests to their courage and fortitude. I thank the author for bringing their stories to life and reminding us all that, while man can do horrendous things to others, the strength of each of us and our inherent goodness can survive.
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Megan Morris
3.0 out of 5 stars Very difficult, and not in the way that all books on the Holocaust are difficult
Reviewed in the United States on November 2, 2021
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My rating: ⭐️⭐️💫 (2.5 stars)
Oof. Oh, boy. How to even begin here…

First, anyone picking up this book needs to know off the bat that this is nonfiction. VERY nonfiction. As in very much cut and dried. This happened to this person in this place, and so on. There is very little editorializing, which may appeal to some.

Second… I really wanted to like this book. I really did. But it took me multiple attempts to finish, mainly because of the author’s writing style. Instead of neatly divided narratives for each person written about in this book, Ms. Adlington decided to just lump all the stories in together. It was extremely hard to get through, without having to back up (sometimes several pages) just to figure out who was where or what was happening.

Last, there’s this… I’m sure Ms. Adlington didn’t intend on being a nazi-apologist here. Most of her book is written from the victims’ perspective, and simply factual. However, there is this quote:

…”an important reminder that the SS should not be characterised as a homogeneous mass of evil automata. They were human beings, with human vices and virtues”.

Nope. Just no.

I gave this two and a half stars instead of the one I wanted to at about 20% in, because it did get easier to read by about 40%. But it still reads more like a textbook than a book anyone outside a classroom setting should force themselves to read.
108 people found this helpful
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Cody Shepherd
5.0 out of 5 stars This is a true story that needed to be told!
Reviewed in the United States on April 20, 2024
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In-depth story from before World War II, the lives and how they were affected. How they lived and how they survived when so many didn't. Definitely a very good read.
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Top reviews from other countries

mmariah
5.0 out of 5 stars Not What I expected, BUT ...
Reviewed in Canada on March 26, 2022
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When I purchased this book, I was expecting a "story" but got quite a shocking surprise to discover it was not only to remind us of the horrors of the Holocaust, but a history lesson we would never find in a classroom, or a texxt book.

A story of unknown strengths, endurance, resiliance, lifelong friendship, loyalty, unbelievable hardships and the power of positivity. Yes, many more characters than a normal book would introduce, and often could not keep track of them, but in the big scheme of lhings, just as in our own lives, everything is inter-twined, and each person impacted the lives of the Dressmakers in one way or another.

A huge thank you to Dr Lore Shelley for realizing that the experiences and memories of these survivors needed to be documented and shared, and by starting the daunting task of contacting this women (and men) and gathering the information. And another big thanks to the author Lucy Addington for all the work and time she invested in completing the project - chronicling the submissions and all of the research and follow up with several of the main characters.

Among other things, it serves to remind us that we are so lucky to live in the world we live in today.
4 people found this helpful
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LizK
5.0 out of 5 stars Compelling read
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on December 2, 2023
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Very readable, a sobering account of how people were treated by the Nazis in WW11, but also a tribute to the human spirit and the strength and support between a group of women.
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Kindle Customer
5.0 out of 5 stars Deeply moving ,incredible
Reviewed in Australia on August 25, 2022
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This book was so in-depth of just how brutal and inhumane the Germans were. The POWS were put through hell. Very intense and saddening at times. The strength and courage these prisoners had is beyond incredible.
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gail milling
5.0 out of 5 stars Amazing book
Reviewed in Canada on October 7, 2021
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I found the book to be insightful and interesting read as I learn more about this difficult time in human history and the will to survive through this shameful part of the 20 th century
4 people found this helpful
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Angela
5.0 out of 5 stars The Dressmakers of Auschwitz
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on August 19, 2023
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Such a powerful book, so much pain, strong ladies, so much detail, I have read many books on Auschwitz but this one will stay with me for a long time
One person found this helpful
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