Lilly Friedman doesn't remember the last name of the woman who designed and sewed the wedding gown she wore when she walked down the aisle over 60 years ago.  But the grandmother of seven does recall that when she first told her fiancé Ludwig that she had always dreamed of being married in a white gown he realized he had his work cut out for him. 

 For the tall, lanky 21-year-old who had survived hunger, disease and torture this was a different kind of challenge.  How was he ever going to find such a dress in the Bergen Belsen Displaced Person's camp where they felt grateful for the clothes on their backs?
 
   Fate would intervene in the guise of a former German pilot who walked into the food distribution center where Ludwig worked, eager to make a trade for his worthless parachute.  In exchange for two pounds of coffee beans and a couple of packs of cigarettes Lilly would have her wedding gown.
 
   For two weeks Miriam the seamstress worked under the curious eyes of her fellow DPs, carefully fashioning the six parachute panels into a simple, long sleeved gown with a rolled collar and a fitted waist that tied in the back with a bow. When the dress was completed she sewed the leftover material into a matching shirt for the groom.
 
   A white wedding gown may have seemed like a frivolous request in the surreal environment of the camps, but for Lilly the dress symbolized the innocent, normal life she and her family had once led before the world descended into madness.  Lilly and her siblings were raised in a Torah observant home in the small town of Zarica, Czechoslovakia where her father was a melamed, respected and well liked by the young yeshiva students he taught in nearby Irsheva. 

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   Four hundred people marched 15 miles in the snow to the town of Celle on January 27, 1946 to attend Lilly and Ludwig's wedding.  The town synagogue, damaged and desecrated, had been lovingly renovated by the DPs with the meager materials available to them.  When a Sefer Torah arrived from England they converted an old kitchen cabinet into a makeshift Aron Kodesh. 

    "My sisters and I lost everything - our parents, our two brothers, our homes. The most important thing was to build a new home."  Six months later, Lilly's sister Ilona wore the dress when she married Max Traeger.  After that came Cousin Rosie.  How many brides wore Lilly's dress? "I stopped counting after 17." With the camps experiencing the highest marriage rate in the world, Lilly's gown was in great demand.
 
    In 1948 when President Harry Truman finally permitted the 100,000 Jews who had been languishing in DP camps since the end of the war to emigrate, the gown accompanied Lilly across the ocean to America.  Unable to part with her dress, it lay at the bottom of her bedroom closet for the next 50 years, "not even good enough for a garage sale. I was happy when it found such a good home." 

   Home was the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum in Washington, D.C. When Lily's niece, a volunteer, told museum officials about her aunt's dress, they immediately recognized its historical significance and displayed the gown in a specially designed showcase, guaranteed to preserve it for 500 years.
 
   But Lilly Friedman's dress had one more journey to make. Bergen Belsen, the museum, opened its doors on October 28, 2007.  The German government invited Lilly and her sisters to be their guests for the grand opening. They initially declined, but finally traveled to Hanover the following year with their children, their grandchildren and extended families to view the extraordinary exhibit created for the wedding dress made from a parachute. 

    Lilly's family, who were all familiar with the stories about the wedding in Celle, were eager to visit the synagogue.  They found the building had been completely renovated and modernized.  But when they pulled aside the handsome curtain they were astounded to find that the Aron Kodesh, made from a kitchen cabinet, had remained untouched as a testament to the profound faith of the survivors.  As Lilly stood on the bimah once again she beckoned to her granddaughter, Jackie, to stand beside her where she was once a kallah.  "It was an emotional trip.  We cried a lot."

   Two weeks later, the woman who had once stood trembling before the selective eyes of the infamous Dr. Josef Mengele returned home and witnessed the marriage of her granddaughter.
                                                                                                                 
  The three Lax sisters - Lilly, Ilona and Eva, who together survived Auschwitz, a forced labor camp, a death march and Bergen Belsen - have remained close and today live within walking distance of each other in Brooklyn.  As mere teenagers, they managed to outwit and outlive a monstrous killing machine, then went on to marry, have children, grandchildren and great-grandchildren and were ultimately honored by the country that had earmarked them for extinction.

   As young brides, they had stood underneath the chuppah and recited the blessings that their ancestors had been saying for thousands of years.  In doing so, they chose to honor the legacy of those who had perished by choosing life.

   Helen Zegerman Schwimmer is the author of Like The Stars of The Heavens.  To contact her please visit:  helenschwimmer.com.

Read Comments (14)

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wedding gown
Date 12:01, 01-26, 09

Every time I hear or read another story about the courage and strength of those that survived I am astounded and filled with admiration. I mourn those that didn't survive but rejoice in the families that grew from those survivors. I am a child of survivors who have two children, four grandchildren and five great grandchildren. As long as we have the stories and the people who remember them we can prevent this from happening again
Brenda Reiss

Lillian from Zarich
Date 09:02, 02-7, 09

Although I get the JEWISH PRESS I somehow missed this issue...
The Wedding Gown that made History was just forwarded to me..
I know Zarich where Lillian came from, and also Irshava where her father was a melamed....I come from Silce, a village between Zarich and Irshava....Zarich is about 2 km from Silce on one side, and Irshava is 3 km on the other side of my village...I would very much like to get in touch with Lillian..
thank you
MICHAEL BLAIN
INDIANAPOLIS

WEdding gown
Date 11:02, 02-9, 09

WOW...What extraordinary beliefs and values people had than. If more of society would be that way today, the world would be so much better. Purity is still an honor. Traditions are still very much needed and desired as well. Kudos to all that believe in tradition.

The Wedding Gown That Made History"
Date 10:02, 02-9, 09

a beautiful article, and valuable messages on marriage, family,and the will to lead a good and normal life.

A story to touch hearts
Date 01:03, 03-4, 09

What a wonderful story - I originally got this from my son who, interestingly enough, is in the wedding gown business. I do not know who sent it to him but I am very happy that he passed it on to me. I,in turn, have forwarded it to people who will appreciate it. Thank you for letting us have something so positive - the world needs more good news. Although not all of the story is good the outcome is for sure.

The wedding gown that made history
Date 09:05, 05-15, 09

It is a lovely story. I enjoyed reading it.

Tammy

Liberator's ambulance drive uniform also displayed at BergenBelsen
Date 08:05, 05-27, 09

My husband Norman C. Kunkel's WWII ambulance driver uniform with the American Field Service Ambulance Corps is also in the Bergen-Belsen exhibit. He was one of the liberators at Bergen-Belsen Concentration Camp.

I helped him write the story of his early life and WWII experiences including a complete chapter on Bergen-Belsen concentration Camp with quotes from people who survived the camp and ambulance drivers who had knowledge of the whole camp.

You can Google the AFS website to learn more about
this book by searching Norman C. Kunkel in the archives.

The wedding dress story triggered the memories that my husband who died just this year on April 2nd related to me for inclusion in his book. We both spoke to many groups throughout Washington State about the Holocaust and showed slides of all the scenes taken when the British opened the camp gates to begin rescuing those who were still living.

I, as a writer, have written up my husband's liberator story for many newspapers and was upset to be called on the phone by a German who denied that the camps were as bad as my husband found them to be. But there will always be people who cannot tolerate their country people being accused of such heinous crimes. My husband knew it was all true as he saw it first hand.

Holocaust Museum
Date 01:06, 06-14, 09

This is another inspiring story, one of many found in the museum. Although I am from Montana and once lived in NC, I have now visited the Holocaust Museum four times for a total of 17 hours. It is such an overwhelming experience, and my "favorite" floor is the second, especially listening to the memoirs and watching them on the exit movie display. I have also visited Dachau and believe that "never again" is a good label to adopt for one's life of service to those who did not survive the atrocities there.

Jennine Budge

This Touched Me..
Date 10:06, 06-15, 09

I just received this in an email and I must say that this touched my heart. I am not Jewish, but, this is something that everyone should read.
George Catlett
Covington, Virginia

Story of enduring love and Courage
Date 01:06, 06-19, 09

A white wedding dress. A simple beautiful symbol of love and purity.It stands unblemished in defiance of the monster who would have denied it to a young bride.

I must admit it is very hard for me to read or watch stories about the holocaust.

I have such empathy for the people whose lives were changed forever.

I will never understand how this could have happened, but I pray we never forget that it could and did.

This story is a lovely tribute to the courage and
hope of the people who lived and triumphed over impossible
odds and unimaginable crulety.

Thank you for for a story that left me with tears of joy instead of tears of sadness.

-Debra Cheehy
Woodbridge,VA

Astonishing
Date 08:06, 06-21, 09

Every time I think back on whata horrible experience this must have been for so many people, its very hard for me not to break down into tears. I was lucky enough in my high school years to study with a man who was so passionate about keeping the memory of Holocaust victims alive, he wrote an entire nine week class curriculum about it, and taught the class until his retirement three years ago. This story shows the need for remembrance, to keep our history alive and show the world that we deserve as much as any other person, to be alive. The love that that man must have had for his wife in unbelievable. An amazing story I will be proud to pass on for years to come. truly inspiring

Unbelievable!
Date 08:06, 06-25, 09

As a youngster I heard stories of the hideous actions that human beings were and are capable of! I had nightmares many times-----into adulthood--of their awful actions. FOR THIS BEAUTIFUL STORY TO BE PART OF THAT TIME IS A TRUE MIRALE!!!!! gOD BLESS YOU.

Well, I'd love to believe it, but....
Date 02:06, 06-26, 09

I can't help but wonder why nobody has commented on the lace, both on the gown and on the tiara.
I hope it's true....because it's a lovely story to have come out of the world's great nightmare.

Jean Sterner

Survivor Wedding
Date 10:09, 09-8, 09

I went to a wedding of 2 children of 4 survivors, and never have I felt such a feeling of joy, triumph, victory, celebration. It was an incredible thing to witness. Hey Kenny & Marcia!