Martin Greenfield

Greenfield was born on August 9, 1928 to a Jewish family in Pavlovo,[3] a small village located in Carpathian Ruthenia, on the southeastern tip of Slovakia in what is now Ukraine. At age 14, Greenfield was rounded up along with his father, mother, two sisters, brother and grandparents. All were brought to the Auschwitz concentration camp.[4]

In 1939 when Martin was 10 years old he started to notice a discrimination between people. That's when things started to go downhill for his and his immediate family members. Once his and his family were all deported to Auschwitz, his two sisters, baby brother and grandparents were immediately sent to the gas chamber. Martin's mother was sent to go with Martin and his father to work but she couldn't let go over her baby boy. Therefore, she was sent to the gas chamber with the rest of her family leaving Martin and his father left behind. With Martin and his father being the only ones left, Martin's father thought they had a better chance of survival if they were to separate, so that's what they did. Once they separated, a week before Martin was liberated, his father had died. At the age of fifteen Martin was working in a concentration camp. Of the time being there Martin learned the power behind clothing. He was beaten for accidentally ripping a Nazis shirt. After getting beaten by the Nazi he later had stolen the shirt that he had accidentally tore. Martin's first tailoring session started with the shirt that he repaired. Once it was repaired he wore it under his uniform all throughout his time working at concentration camps. Wearing the shirt made him realize that clothes possess power, this became an inspiration to Martin and helped him survive the Holocaust. This experience was a contributing factor to how he became one of the most successful and famous men's tailors of America. [5]

Near the end of World War II, Greenfield was moved along with other Auschwitz prisoners to the Buchenwald concentration camp. In April 1945, the American army stormed the camp, and liberated its prisoners. As the troops passed through the camp, Greenfield stopped a young rabbi who was serving as a U.S. Army chaplain and asked him, "where was God?". The rabbi, Herschel Schacter, later told Greenfield that he had never forgotten the question.[3] Later, General Dwight D. Eisenhower arrived to supervise the liberation, and Greenfield shook his hand; coincidentally, standing next to Greenfield at the time was Elie Wiesel, who would later become famous writing about his time in the concentration camps.[3]

Soon after the liberation, Greenfield and another teenage survivor set out to kill the wife of the mayor, who had previously had Greenfield beaten for trying to eat food intended for her pet rabbits. When they found her, she was carrying her newborn baby, and Greenfield relented; he has described that moment as when he "became human again".[6]

Greenfield spent the next two years in Europe, looking for his remaining immediate family, who unbeknownst to him had all been killed. His father was killed one week before his camp was liberated. In 1947, at the age of 19, he boarded a ship to the United States, and stayed with wealthy relatives in Baltimore.[3] Soon afterward, he moved to New York City, where an aunt of his lived.[4]

In 1947, a Czech immigrant guided him to GGG Clothing, a clothing manufacturer in the East Williamsburg neighborhood of Brooklyn, where he was hired as a "floor boy".[3] Over the next decade, his tailoring skills and reputation grew. His first major client, in the early 1950s, was General Eisenhower, then preparing to run for the presidency.[3]

In 1977, Greenfield bought GGG Clothing, and renamed it to Martin Greenfield Clothiers. The company would grow from six employees at the time to 117 by 2010.[4]

Among Greenfield's list of clients are U.S. presidents Eisenhower, Bill Clinton, Lyndon B. Johnson, Gerald Ford, Barack Obama and Donald Trump; General Colin Powell, actor Paul Newman, Cardinal Edward Egan, athletes Patrick Ewing, Shaquille O’Neal, LeBron James, Carmelo Anthony & Wayne Gretzky and New York City political figures Michael Bloomberg and Ray Kelly.[3][4][7]

Greenfield and his company have served as the tailor for men's suits for fashion lines including DKNY, Brooks Brothers, Neiman Marcus and Rag & Bone.[4]

His company also created the suits for the 1920s-set HBO television show Boardwalk Empire.[4]

Greenfield married his wife, Arlene, in 1956. They have two sons, Jay and Tod. Both sons work at Martin Greenfield Clothiers, and Jay, his elder son, serves as executive vice president.[4] His personal memoir, entitled Measure of a Man: From Auschwitz Survivor to Presidents' Tailor, was published in 2014.[7]

• Martin Greenfield Clothiers