Betty’s Wedding Dress-Shanghai Jewish Refugees Museum

The wedding dress was donated by Betty Grebenschikoff, a former Jewish refugee, in 2013. The wedding dress combines the Chinese and Western styles, and the overlapping Chinese placket symbolizes the best wishes to the couple. The French satin wedding is trimmed with lace and embroidered with calla lilies, paired with a veil.

In 1948, Betty met Oleg Grebenschikoff, a physical education teacher at the Shanghai Jewish School. They married after dating for nearly three months. Betty's mother-in-law, Alexandra Vassilievna, hand made the wedding dress to send her best wishes. Betty's wedding dress also witnessed the love stories of her two daughters. They both wore this dress at their own weddings respectively. For the Betty’s family, this is a very important souvenir.

The Jewish refugees in Shanghai cared very much about marriage, which was considered to be a bond connecting individuals into a community. As the number of Jews, or the Jewish community, in Shanghai was small, so they mainly wedded other members of their extended family in Shanghai and their relatives from other Chinese cities or foreign countries. As the influx of later Jewish refugees expanded the number of Jews in Shanghai, their marital radius extended. According to statistics, 366 Jewish couples were married between 1939 and 1946.