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. Drawing on diverse sources including interviews with the last surviving seamstress, The Dressmakers of Auschwitz follows the fates of these brave women.

In this captivating podcast recorded live at the Shrine, author and historian Lucy Adlington joined us virtually in conversation with the Melbourne Holocaust Museum’s Dr Breann Fallon.

Lucy refers to some pieces of clothing in this podcast. To view images of these belongings, go to https://www.shrine.org.au/live-shrine-dressmakers-auschwitz. 

This program was presented in partnership with the Melbourne Holocaust Museum and Melbourne Jewish Book Week.

To attend one of our events in-person, head to shrine.org.au