As a prisoner of Auschwitz became the personal tailor of US presidents

“A man is often judged by his appearance,” wrote Shakespeare in Hamlet. Clothes undoubtedly defined the fate of master tailor Martin Greenfield, who survived the Holocaust and measured presidents at the White House to create his signature handmade suits.
The A4406 number was tattooed on Martin Greenfield’s arm on the first day of his stay at the Auschwitz concentration camp. Cufflinks - a gift of General Colin Powell.

At the age of 88, he still works 6 days a week at his garment factory in Brooklyn, New York, when he doesn’t give inspirational speeches or engage in community activities.

The Greenfield family, born in Pavlov, a mountain village in what was then Czechoslovakia, died during the Nazi Germany campaign to exterminate the Jews.

His father, an engineer, told him at Auschwitz: “We must separate. You are young and strong. You will survive on your own. You must honor our memory, surviving. "

And the resourceful teenager survived by learning from the senior Jews who were condemned to death in a concentration camp in a concentration camp. His relatives brought him to America in 1947. Martin began work as a boy for errands in a factory that now belongs to him.

In a very short time, he became her best tailor, who was entrusted with sewing costumes for Dwight Eisenhower before and after his election as the owner of the White House in 1952. Greenfield even left notes for Eisenhower with foreign policy advice in the pockets of his suits.

When Bill Clinton called him in for a fitting, the president said to the tailor: “No need to send notes. Here is my fax number. ” Among his clients are President Obama, as well as celebrities Paul Newman, Frank Sinatra, Leonardo DiCaprio and basketball stars Patrick Ewing and Shaquille O'Neill (who sew high-end costumes). One of Greenfield's favorite clients is former General and Secretary of State Colin Powell.

Each hand-made costume is the result of the efforts of many people. 120 immigrants work in his company. “We have the best masters from all over the world,” says Greenfield. “Without them, I am nobody.”

“There is no other country like America in the world,” says Greenfield. His firm is now run by sons Jay and Tod.

In 2015, he donned a robe and received an honorary doctorate from the University of Yeshiva in New York. University President Richard Joel, in his speech, quoted from Greenfield’s autobiography “Man’s Merk”: “Everyone is perfect. I have to make a suit that helps him to believe that he can achieve his dream. ”

Greenfield proudly noted that he “dresses representatives of both political parties.” In the past, a tailor made several costumes for Donald Trump (44 size), when he was a New York developer. Now he will wait for a possible call from the next owner of the White House.

“It’s a great honor to dress presidents,” Greenfield admits. “I make the clothes always adorn the person.”

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