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The dressmakers of Auschwitz : the true story of the women who sewed to survive / Lucy Adlington.

By: Material type: TextTextPublisher: New York, NY : Harper Large Print, an imprint of HarperCollinsPublishers, [2021]Copyright date: ©2021Edition: First Harper Large Print edition; Large print editionDescription: 529 pages (large print) : illustrations ; 23 cmContent type:
  • text
Media type:
  • unmediated
Carrier type:
  • volume
ISBN:
  • 9780063118881
  • 0063118882
Subject(s): Genre/Form:
Contents:
Introduction -- One of the few who survived -- The one and only power -- What next, how to continue? -- The yellow star -- The customary reception -- You want to stay alive -- I want to live here till I die -- Out of ten thousand women -- Solidarity and support -- The air smells like burning paper -- They want us to be normal?
Summary: 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 H̲ss, 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, this book 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.
Holdings
Item type Home library Collection Call number Materials specified Status Date due Barcode Item holds
Large Print Book Large Print Book Dr. James Carlson Library Large Print NonFiction 940.5318 A237 Available 33111010591986
Large Print Book Large Print Book Main Library Large Print NonFiction 940.5318 A237 Available 33111010579601
Total holds: 0

Enhanced descriptions from Syndetics:

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.

Includes bibliographical references (pages 458-471).

Introduction -- One of the few who survived -- The one and only power -- What next, how to continue? -- The yellow star -- The customary reception -- You want to stay alive -- I want to live here till I die -- Out of ten thousand women -- Solidarity and support -- The air smells like burning paper -- They want us to be normal?

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 H̲ss, 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, this book 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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