A Tailor in Auschwitz

A Tailor in Auschwitz written by David van Turnhout & Dirk Verhofstadt and

published by Pen & Sword - £22 - Hardback - Pages 240

David Van Turnhout and Dirk Verhofstadt traced the story of David's Jewish grandfather,

Ide Leib Kartuz. Fleeing from antisemitism and violence, he came to Antwerp in 1929

and set up business as a tailor. The family he left behind ended up in the ghetto of

Radomsko. Each and every member of the family was gassed at Treblinka. In Belgium,

Kartuz joined the resistance movement, but was arrested by the Nazis in 1942 and

deported to Auschwitz. On arrival there, his wife and two children immediately died a

horrible death.

He survived in a unit of tailors where he repaired camp clothing and SS guards' uniforms, sometimes receiving special orders from SS officers. Kartuz endured an inhuman death march to Mauthausen. After the war, back in Antwerp, he made tailored suits for bankers and other business people. His final battle was against the Belgian state, for recognition as a Belgian citizen, member of the resistance and war victim. Very few people realise how difficult it was for Jewish people to survive after liberation.

The authors dig deep into the core of the Holocaust and investigate every trail from Radomsko to Miami. In the Auschwitz archives, they discover unpublished witness statements by tailors in Block 1. And completely unexpectedly, they also discover a cousin of Ide's, living in Florida. She had survived as a child by hiding in an attic in Brussels and speaks for the first time about those dark days. It took the authors a year to wind their questing way through important discoveries and setbacks but in this tribute, an unknown piece of history has finally been given a face.

This book is the story and struggle of Jewish tailor Ide Leib Kartuz who had been sent along with millions of other Jews to concentration camps in Europe during WW2 at the hands of Hitlers Nazi’s. The one reason that kept Kartuz from being killed in the concentration was his expertise and skills as a tailor, German guards and staff would appreciate the work and skill he could do in making clothing for the guard's wives and families. Kartuz would be picked up pre-war as a successful tailor but would make his way back there after the war to carry on his profession, but we find out about all the suffering and hell that went on. While the book is never going to be an easy read, this book is written well and an emotional story has now been written, sharing the levels of depravity that man can stoop to. Along with many other books like this, this book can tell a story that should never be forgotten. It is though heartwarming to know that Ide Leib Kartuz would go on to live to a good age.