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

As 1945 began, Allied troops advanced and Auschwitz was abruptly abandoned. All records were destroyed and inmates were ordered to evacuate at gunpoint. The seamstresses debated whether it was safest to try to stay at the camp in hopes of Russian assistance or to follow the orders of the SS. They left as a unified group, though they later parted as Marta and four other seamstresses split off, aiming to reach freedom. The four were ultimately discovered and shot by German soldiers; Marta alone survived.

Meanwhile, the remaining dressmakers and prisoners were loaded into coal wagons to be taken to Germany. Many did not survive the horrific conditions of the journey; those who did found themselves at Ravensbrück concentration camp, already filled beyond capacity with prisoners.

Hunya, Bracha, Katka, and the other dressmakers remained there for an unknown amount of time until they were suddenly transported (via an actual passenger train) to Malchow, a satellite camp. Here the young women were assigned separate work duties. Hunya did some seamstress work for the wife of one of the camp’s factory managers. They remained there until the German surrender in May 1945, when SS officers fled the camp. Hunya and others hid in a shed until Russian soldiers discovered them and assured them that they were indeed free. They were brought to a German house, where they took what clothing and food they found, and were then transported to Prague. There Hunya reunited with her sister and brother-in-law.

Bracha and Katka obtained refuge in a German home but then journeyed back toward Bratislava by foot and by hitching rides. They were later able to travel via train, now flooded with refugees from many nations. Though their family members had perished, they reunited with Irene Reichenberg, who, along with Renée Ungar, avoided recapture on the death march out of Auschwitz. The women began trying to recover remaining family possessions and to start their new lives.

In the ensuing months, the Czech textile and fashion industries gradually returned. It was through an invitation to join a new salon that Bracha learned that Marta Fuchs had survived; a book in her backpack thwarted the bullet. Though her journey to safety was a long one, she received help from Polish allies who vouched that Marta had indeed been an Auschwitz prisoner and not a Nazi posing as one. Marta faced many challenges in the establishment of the new salon: Supplies were difficult to obtain and antisemitic sentiments still present. Hunya and Manci Birnbaum joined Bracha in accepting seamstress positions from Marta. In the years that followed, many of the women married and started families. Some would emigrate from Europe to the United States or Israel (including Irene and Renée).

The fate of major Nazi officials and their wives varied: Some died by suicide while others were captured and imprisoned. Hedwig Höss was protected by a network of Nazi leaders who hid her in the months following the war’s end, but she was eventually interrogated by British soldiers. Either she or her brother gave up information on Rudolf’s location, and he was captured and hanged.

Adlington reveals that Bracha Berkovič is her primary source of information for the book. Now Bracha Kohút, she is nearing the age of 100.

The Auschwitz experience continues to traumatize both direct victims and subsequent generations of Jews. While some of the seamstresses shared their experiences, many remained silent due to both the pain of such memories and the unwillingness of others to listen. It was not until the 1980s, with the inception of the World Gathering of Holocaust Survivors, that society began to view the experiences of the victims as historically important and worthy of preservation. In a questionnaire distributed and completed at this event, Adlington found a valuable resource for her book. One of these response was completed by Hunya Volkmann and contained her thoughts on everything from reparations to the reason she survived her imprisonment.

The friendships forged in the Upper Tailoring Studio endured beyond the Auschwitz gate. Adlington met descendants of some of the women; many still possess garments sewn by their survivor mother, grandmother, or aunt. Adlington reminds readers that Auschwitz-Birkenau and other camps still stand and are open to visitors.

Bracha Berkovič Kohút—the longest living survivor of the Upper Tailoring Salon—passed away in February 2021, around the time of the book’s publication.