*Review* The Dressmakers of Auschwitz by Lucy Adlington

 

Genre: Non-fiction

Published: September 14, 2021

Pages: 391

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.

I listened to the audiobook version of this, and this may be one instance where that was a mistake. I picked this book up during a 2 for 1 credit sale on Audible, and didn't pay close attention to the genre, so I was expecting historical fiction, and that's not what this was. There are a whole lot of details encased in this book, and most of them didn't stick for me because I was listening and not reading. I couldn't tell you a single name of any of the women who survived the Holocaust because of having sewing skills and knowing the right person. I don't remember what the inmates called the area where all of the belongings were kept and sorted. But I know those were things that were talked about. 

As far as I can tell, the book seems very well researched. The way camp life was described is in line with other books I've read about Auschwitz and other concentration camps. It gives an inside look into life in the camps, and what it took to survive the atrocities, and how sometimes, even when things are going comparatively well for you, you don't really want to go on. 

Overall I give this book 4.17 out of 5 stars. - Katie 

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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.