This remarkable story of the sole survivor of a Jewish family from Carpathia in concentration camps during the Holocaust is impressive for the shrewd decisions made by a teenager and how Martin Greenfield became a celebrity tailor. It's a quick read and is surprising for the author's lack of hatred for the Nazis who tried to obliterate his future. Written in 2014, there's a very silly hero-worshipping paragraph about Greenfield making a suit for Donald Trump, whom I guess did, surprisingly enough, pay him for the work. He also was responsible for President Obama's infamous "tan suit", the criticism of which had to be from sheer jealousy! The man's many friends confirm his skill as a salesperson and as an overall mensch. Greenfield died in March of 2024, leaving his two sons to carry on his renowned Brooklyn business. A thoughtful memoir that could be part of a high school curriculum. ( )

Someone left it at my office, and though we are hoping to return it to whoever left it, I started reading it at the office when I had to stay late to wait to travel to an appointment. Since the office was going to be closed over the weekend, I took the book with me to finish over the weekend and will take it back on Monday.

The story follows Max Grünfeld/Martin Greenfield from a young boy being taken to Auschwitz with his family through the liberation of the concentration camps to immigrating to the USA. Max/Martin gets his first taste of sewing at Auschwitz when another prisoner shows him a basic stitch--but it is not until he is in New York that a friend gets him a job at GGG where Martin rises through the ranks and eventually buys a GGG building to begin his own clothier/tailor shop. Due to his refusal to compromise the way he knows a good suit should be made, Martin's clothes are in high demand by a number of companies and clients, including some famous ones (and including a number of presidents).

It's truly an inspirational story that shows the will to survive as well as showing that hard work can pay off. It's a story of sadness and triumph and everything in between--truly a rags to riches story as one cannot get worse off than barely surviving a concentration camp interment to being a successful businessman with a family. ( )

This book had been recommended to me by a friend at book club. What a great recommendation! I actually listened to the book, and that made it a lot of fun. It is an autobiography, so it really felt like Martin was telling me his story.

I was amazed at his ability to endure. I was impressed by his honesty and his earnestness in finding mentors, and then following their advice. He surrounded himself with great people and then became one himself. He never gave up his passions. He never compromised his ideals.

His compassion was evident as well. Without ruining anything, there was a time when he was in New York and he saw a line of people wrapped around a building. He felt terrible that so many people were so hungry. He didn't know it was so bad. Then his friend told him they were all in line to get in the stadium to watch a Yankee's game. He decided right then that he had better learn about baseball if that many people would wait in line!

I'm glad I finally moved this book to the top of my pile! ( )

Quick, but not at times an easy read. Martin Greenfield's story of surviving Auschwitz is the first 1/3 of the book and is a compelling, difficult and amazing read, that takes you through the the journey of being Jewish in Nazi Germany.

The rest of the book is a breeze by comparison, a little too self-congratulatory, not enough details to make it interesting, a let down compared to how it started. ( )

√ Auschwitz Prisoner A4406

MEASURE OF A MAN starts off with the author, as a boy, in a German concentration camp. Martin was quickly separated from most of his family--and many he would never see again. Martin was sent to the line on the right, where the prisoners were allowed to live. Those on the left--including many of his family--were killed.

We've heard the Auschwitz story before, but it bears repeating. The young boy was witness to astonishing acts of human cruelty. Martin's father was a wise man who realized that in order for his son to survive, he and his son must be separated.

Like the other prisoners in Auschwitz, Martin was given a tattoo. In his case "A4406." For some reason, the young man was sent to the camp laundry. There, he learned a little bit about sewing and the power of appearance. Martin had torn a Nazi shirt whilst cleaning it, and after being bloodied by the guard, Martin decided to wear the shirt under his prisoner garb. “The day I wore that first shirt was the day I learned clothes possess power. Clothes don't just make the man, they can save the man. They did for me." Ironically, the hellhole of Auschwitz was his training ground--but not his first choice: "Of course, receiving your first tailoring lesson inside a Nazi concentration camp was hardly be ideal apprenticeship. I would have much preferred to learn my craft on Savile Row.“

In January of 1945, the Jewish prisoners were forced to march on the infamous "death march." Only 500 prisoners survived. Martin recalls that he was forced to carry a backpack of one of the German soldiers. He and his friends took some food out of the bag to make it lighter, but they realized that when the soldier returned they would be shot. They looked at the bright side: “At least we won't be hungry when he shoots us." To escape, Martin had his fellow prisoners bury him under some snow.

After the war, young Martin came to America with almost nothing: “When I came to America, the only thing I had was the dirt under my fingernails.“ In America, he was astonished by what he saw, and was very ignorant about the land. Seeing all the people waiting to get into Yankee Stadium, he thought, “Things must be terrible here. I've never seen so many people waiting in a bread line!"

It was in 1947 that the author started work at the famous clothiers, "GGG clothiers," named after 3 Goldman brothers. There, Martin learned the craft of tailoring and running a business. The author recounts the greatest lesson he ever received was from Mr Goldman: “The key to success in business and in life, is to 'produce quality with intrinsic value.' Its a lesson I've never forgotten." In 1977, thirty years after he started working at GGG, Martin bought the entire company.

Martin eventually had the chance to tailor custom suits for presidents--even his hero, President Dwight D. Eisenhower. Martin wanted to offer some suggestions to the president, but he knew that his letters would never reach Ike. So Martin sewed a pocket into Ike's jacket, with a letter for the president inside. Later on, Eisenhower quipped that there was a "Brooklyn Taylor who kept sewing foreign policy advice into his clothes." Time magazine heard the story, and the Brooklyn tailor became famous.

Many years later, when Martin was the tailor to President Clinton, Clinton heard about these letters sewed in the clothing of Ike. Clinton took him aside and said, “Martin, just so you know, if you ever have anything you want to talk about, you won't need to sew letters in my pockets. I will just give you my fax number.

In one touching chapter, we hear that because of his tragic childhood, Martin had not been able to have the traditional Bar Mitzvah of young Jewish boys. So at age 80, Martin finally got his Bar Mitzvah.

√ All in all, MEASURE OF A MAN is a solid, inspiring story. Starting with the most horrific experience one can imagine, the author worked hard, whilst overcame hardship few of us will ever face. The boy who learned to sew in Auschwitz ended up being the tailor to some of the most important men in the world.


♫ A Review by Chris Lawson

Note: I do not know the author of this book, and no one requested I write a positive review. Review copy courtesy of Edelweiss. ( )