Measure of a Man

From Auschwitz Survivor to Presidents' Tailor

Martin Greenfield and Wynton Hall (View Bio)
Hardcover: Regnery, 2014.

He's been called "America's greatest living tailor" and "the most interesting man in the world." Now, for the first time, Holocaust-survivor Martin Greenfield tells his whole, incredible life story. Taken from his Czechoslovakian home at age fifteen and transported to the Nazi concentration camp at Auschwitz with his family, Greenfield came face-to-face with "Angel of Death" Dr. Joseph Mengele and was divided forever from his parents, sisters, and baby brother.

In haunting, powerful prose, Greenfield remembers his desperation and fear as a teenager alone in the death camp—and how an impulsive decision to take an SS soldier's shirt dramatically altered the course of his life. He learned how to sew; and when he began wearing the shirt under his prisoner uniform, he learned that clothes possess great power and could even help save his life.

Measure of a Man is the story of a man who suffered unimaginable horror and emerged with a dream of success. From sweeping floors at a New York clothing factory to founding America’s premier handmade suit company, Greenfield built a fashion empire. Now 86-years-old and working with his sons, Greenfield has dressed the famous and powerful of D.C. and Hollywood, including Presidents Dwight Eisenhower, Bill Clinton, and Barack Obama and celebrities Paul Newman, Martin Scorsese, Leonardo DiCaprio, and Jimmy Fallon.

Written with soul-baring honesty and, at times, a wry sense of humor, Measure of a Man is a memoir unlike any other—one that will inspire hope and renew faith in the resilience of man.

"It's a remarkable book." — Mark Levin, nationally syndicated radio host

"In 1956, Martin Greenfield was a twentysomething Czech immigrant working as a tailor at the well-regarded Brooklyn suit maker GGG Clothes. Greenfield had gotten in the door, in 1947, with the help of a fellow immigrant friend and eventually worked his way from the lowly post of 'floor boy' to trusted confidante of owner William P. Goldman, who took a shine to his competitive spirit. GGG was a favorite label of Dwight D. Eisenhower, and the young tailor couldn’t help himself from passing advice on foreign policy to the Oval Office via the pockets of the president’s new suits. If Eisenhower wanted to end the Suez Canal crisis, Greenfield suggested in a note, why not give Secretary of State John Dulles a two-week vacation? Eisenhower eventually shared his tailor’s hubris with the D.C. press corps for a few laughs. The anecdote is one of many in Greenfield’s new memoir that demonstrates the extraordinary experience he had with capital-H history in the back half of the 20th century." — Vanity Fair