REGISTRATION REQUIRED – All book discussion sign-ups announced at the beginning of the semester on the Honors listserv

• Book: THE DRESSMAKERS OF AUSCHWITZ by Lucy Adlington
• Discussion Leader: Dr. Monica Sklar, Assistant Professor of Textiles, Merchandising, and Interiors, and Dr. Amanda Walls, Lecturer of Hebrew Language and Literature
• Date: Wednesday, April 17, 6:00-8:00pm
• Location: Moore 116
• Description: 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.

Contact: Kora Burton, [email protected].