The Dressmakers of Auschwitz
The True Story of the Women Who Sewed to Survive
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The Dressmakers of Auschwitz
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Narrated by:
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Lucy Adlington
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By:
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Lucy Adlington
About this listen
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, 25 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 patronised 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.
PLEASE NOTE: When you purchase this title, the accompanying PDF will be available in your Audible Library along with the audio.
©2021 Lucy Adlington (P)2021 Hodder & Stoughton LimitedListeners also enjoyed...
What listeners say about The Dressmakers of Auschwitz
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance2 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Sharon Shaw
- 03-08-22
Incredible story
An amazing account of a horrific period of time.
Well written by Lucy A but not well narrated by Lucy A. I'm sorry to say but should have been narrated by a professional narrater.
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Overall4 out of 5 stars
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Performance2 out of 5 stars
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Story4 out of 5 stars
- Pauline
- 05-11-21
Audible
The only thing that put me off this story was the audible recording.
There were obvious errors - duplication of sentences (obviously a production issue).
The other error was the mispronunciation of some words which possibly wouldn't have happened if the author had not been reading her own book, and they had used a professional artist.
However, those errors did not distract from the story too much - just irritations really.
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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- granny biker
- 29-01-24
There are no words
What a fascinating, heartbreaking, inspiring and humbling book. A much needed diary of how women fought and survived ‘man’s inhumanity to man”.
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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- Georgina thompson
- 24-09-21
Brilliant
A terrible part of history told in an Interesting way through fabric fashion and the strength of people to survive the war.
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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- Tootsone
- 03-09-24
The inhumanity of racism
I learnt more about the background to WW2 and also how easy it was to ignore the demonisation of “others” who have different beliefs and perhaps look differently to us. I was astonished to hear about the looting. This book gives a different perspective and adds additional background to the suffering and lives of “The Dressmakers”.
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Overall4 out of 5 stars
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- Jaye22
- 21-05-23
*Horrific*
**4.5 Stars**
I was very intrigued to learn about these brave women who were not only in a concentration camp but they lived virtually one stitch at a time in the hope their lives would be spared by making clothes mainly to dress the SS functions but for the wives and those that money was no object. It was distasteful given the conditions the women had to deal with and the very same people had no compunction watching the women being marched away to their death and committing all manner of unspeakable violence against them.
The Author Lucy Adlington is also a historian and she researched and managed to get an interview with the last surviving seamstress Bracha Kohút at the time of the interview she was 98. There is a section where Lucy mentions that everything she had researched the Bracha lived through. There were 25 women chosen to sew in the Fashion workshop crassly called ‘Upper Tailoring Studio’ whilst the recipients received beautifully tailored garments to wear, the women suffered.
It was a hard read and I found myself on Google looking it up, such an unimaginable true story that Lucy does not gloss over the details and it also highlights the resilience of the women each knowing that each day could be their last.
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1 person found this helpful
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- S. J. Bell
- 12-11-21
Enlightening what else can I say
I thoroughly enjoyed this book. The journey has been well a written and crafted journey of these women, their lives and struggles. Thank you
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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- Dr Faithful
- 17-10-21
Shocking and inspiring : a triumph of many years of research
After having read The Red Ribbon, Lucy Adlington’s fictional version of the upper tailoring workshop I was now doubly moved to read the true account of women enslaved into dressmaking at Auschwitz. What an inspiring tale of life in the face of the ultimate in adversity, of finding meaning and reason to live in loyal bonds of friendship. I thought I knew most of the horrors of Nazi concentration camps but this book brings a whole new clothes-based, and most importantly, predominantly female perspective to the greatest horror of the twentieth century.
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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- Wendy Girling
- 19-11-22
Needs to be read by all
Such an eye opener to how t young girls the mums and the aunts and grandmothers lived died survived Auschwitz
a Must read for all but especially to females
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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- Christine S.
- 13-02-23
Unspeakably great story and extraordinary detail
This book is an absolute must read for anyone who makes clothing. It was wonderful to hear it read by the author and she does a magnificent job of bringing together the stories of these women.
There are a few editing errors sprinkled throughout the book where the same passage is repeated. But overall the performance is really good and the recording is clear.
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