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Cookbooks and Recipes
In many families, recipes and cookbooks hold a special place—a well used, tattered cookbook passed down from one generation to the next, a treasured family recipe prepared for gatherings, the aroma of a favorite pie baking.
Key Facts
1
During the era of the Holocaust, cookbooks and recipes were among the precious items people took with them during emigration.
2
They were also created in hiding or secretly in camps and ghettos by people who were starving or suffering from malnutrition.
3
Others were compiled after the war in displaced persons camps as survivors sought to rebuild their lives.
View this term in the glossary
Cookbooks and food in general reflect who we are, preserving recipes from relatives and passing them on to future generations to keep memories alive. Each cookbook or recipe in the Museum’s collection tells a story. They evoke memories of happier times and bear witness to the will to create under the most dire of circumstances. In some cases, cookbooks were even ways of preserving a past that the Nazis and their collaborators were rapidly destroying.
Fenyves family cookbook
Steven Fenves (born Fenyves) and his family lived in Subotica, Yugoslavia. His mother, Klári Fenyves created this cookbook with recipes handwritten in Hungarian.
Klári Fenyves created a family cookbook, written in Hungarian. After the family was forced to leave their apartment before deportation, the family’s cook, Maris, saved this treasured cookbook and some of Klári Fenyves’ artwork. She returned the artwork and the cookbook to the surviving family members after the war.
Steven Fenves (born Fenyves) and his family lived in Subotica, Yugoslavia. His father, Lajos, managed a publishing house and his mother, Klári (Klara), was a graphic artist. In April 1941, Subotica fell under Hungarian occupation. Until May 1944, the Fenyveses lived in one corner of their apartment while Hungarian officers took over the rest of the family’s home.
This page shows a recipe in the Fenyves family cookbook. Klári Fenyves created the cookbook, which was written in Hungarian. After the family was forced to leave their apartment before deportation, the family’s cook, Maris, saved this cookbook and some of Klári Fenyves’ artwork. She returned the artwork and the cookbook to the surviving family members after the war. Estera, Steven, and Lajos had survived, although Lajos died a few months after they were reunited.
Steven Fenves (born Fenyves) and his family lived in Subotica, Yugoslavia. His father, Lajos, managed a publishing house and his mother, Klári (Klara), was a graphic artist. In April 1941, Subotica fell under Hungarian occupation. Until May 1944, the Fenyveses lived in one corner of their apartment while Hungarian officers took over the rest of the family’s home.
This page shows a recipe in the Fenyves family cookbook. Klári Fenyves created the cookbook, which was written in Hungarian. After the family was forced to leave their apartment before deportation, the family’s cook, Maris, saved this cookbook and some of Klári Fenyves’ artwork. She returned the artwork and the cookbook to the surviving family members after the war. Estera, Steven, and Lajos had survived, although Lajos died a few months after they were reunited.
Steven Fenves (born Fenyves) and his family lived in Subotica, Yugoslavia. His father, Lajos, managed a publishing house and his mother, Klári (Klara), was a graphic artist. In April 1941, Subotica fell under Hungarian occupation. Until May 1944, the Fenyveses lived in one corner of their apartment while Hungarian officers took over the rest of the family’s home.
This page shows a recipe in the Fenyves family cookbook. Klári Fenyves created the cookbook, which was written in Hungarian. After the family was forced to leave their apartment before deportation, the family’s cook, Maris, saved this cookbook and some of Klári Fenyves’ artwork. She returned the artwork and the cookbook to the surviving family members after the war. Estera, Steven, and Lajos had survived, although Lajos died a few months after they were reunited.
Recipes written down by Ilona Kellner
Ilona Kellner and her family lived in Pelsöc, which became part of Hungary before World War II. In 1944, Ilona was deported to Auschwitz and then to a forced-labor camp. There, Ilona smuggled blank pages out of wastebaskets and wrote down hundreds of recipes dictated by her fellow women prisoners.
Writing down treasured recipes can evoke memories of happier times and bear witness to the will to create under the most dire of circumstances. In some cases, this type of documentation was even a way to preserve a past that the Nazis and their collaborators were rapidly destroying. Ilona Kellner smuggled blank pages out of wastebaskets in a forced-labor camp and used them to record hundreds of recipes dictated by her fellow women prisoners, along with some of her own recipes.
In early August, Ilona and her sister were deported to Hessisch Lichtenau, a subcamp of the Buchenwald concentration camp. They were part of a transport of 1,000 Hungarian women taken to Germany to fill a labor shortage. At the labor camp, Ilona worked as a translator and messenger and tidied the factory there. She smuggled blank pages out of wastebaskets and used them to record hundreds of recipes dictated by her fellow women prisoners.
This page shows Mrs. Zinger's recipe for mocha cake, as transcribed by Ilona Kellner on the back of a blank munitions factory form.
In early August, Ilona and her sister were deported to Hessisch Lichtenau, a subcamp of the Buchenwald concentration camp. They were part of a transport of 1,000 Hungarian women taken to Germany to fill a labor shortage. At the labor camp, Ilona worked as a translator and messenger and tidied the factory there. She smuggled blank pages out of wastebaskets and used them to record hundreds of recipes dictated by her fellow women prisoners.
This page shows Mariska's recipe for hazelnut cake, transcribed by Ilona Kellner on the back of a blank munitions factory form.
In early August, Ilona and her sister were deported to Hessisch Lichtenau, a subcamp of the Buchenwald concentration camp. They were part of a transport of 1,000 Hungarian women taken to Germany to fill a labor shortage. At the labor camp, Ilona worked as a translator and messenger and tidied the factory there. She smuggled blank pages out of wastebaskets and used them to record hundreds of recipes dictated by her fellow women prisoners, along with some of her own recipes.
This page shows Ilona Kellner's recipe for various strudel fillings, written on the back of a blank munitions factory form.
In early August, Ilona and her sister were deported to Hessisch Lichtenau, a subcamp of the Buchenwald concentration camp. They were part of a transport of 1,000 Hungarian women taken to Germany to fill a labor shortage. At the labor camp, Ilona worked as a translator and messenger and tidied the factory there. She smuggled blank pages out of wastebaskets and used them to record hundreds of recipes dictated by her fellow women prisoners, along with some of her own recipes.
This page shows Ilona Kellner's recipe for "butter scones with jam," written on the back of a blank munitions factory form.
Eva Oswalt's cookbook
Eva Oswalt was born in Cologne, Germany, to Jewish parents. After Eva and her mother were captured by the SS, she was deported to the Ravensbrück camp in 1943. While imprisoned there, Eva created this cookbook.
Cookbooks were created and recipes recorded under the most dire of circumstances—in hiding or secretly in camps and ghettos by people who were starving or suffering from malnutrition. This page comes from a cookbook Eva Ostwalt created while imprisoned in the Ravensbrück camp.
Eva Ostwalt was born in Cologne, Germany, to Jewish parents. She had two younger sisters, Kate and Trude. In 1927, Eva moved with her daughter, Heidemarie, and non-Jewish husband to Dresden. Eva and Karl later divorced, and Eva received custody of Heidemarie. Mother and daughter moved to Merano, Italy. When Eva’s passport expired in 1938, she had to return to Germany. Believing that Heidemarie would be safer with her father, Eva gave custody back to Karl in Dresden. Eva returned to Cologne, where both she and her mother Else were eventually caught by the SS. Else was sent to Auschwitz, where she was killed. Eva was sent to Ravensbrück in 1943.
Near the end of the war, she was forced on a death march, from which she escaped. Eva eventually returned to Dresden to find her daughter. She arrived to find the town in ruin from air raids, and learned that Heidemarie had died from the attacks.
This page comes from a cookbook Eva created while imprisoned in Ravensbrück.
Eva Ostwalt was born in Cologne, Germany, to Jewish parents. She had two younger sisters, Kate and Trude. In 1927, Eva moved with her daughter, Heidemarie, and non-Jewish husband to Dresden. Eva and Karl later divorced, and Eva received custody of Heidemarie. Mother and daughter moved to Merano, Italy. When Eva’s passport expired in 1938, she had to return to Germany. Believing that Heidemarie would be safer with her father, Eva gave custody back to Karl in Dresden. Eva returned to Cologne, where both she and her mother Else were eventually caught by the SS. Else was sent to Auschwitz, where she was killed. Eva was sent to Ravensbrück in 1943.
Near the end of the war, she was forced on a death march, from which she escaped. Eva eventually returned to Dresden to find her daughter. She arrived to find the town in ruin from air raids, and learned that Heidemarie had died from the attacks.
This page comes from a cookbook Eva created while imprisoned in Ravensbrück.
Eva Ostwalt was born in Cologne, Germany, to Jewish parents. She had two younger sisters, Kate and Trude. In 1927, Eva moved with her daughter, Heidemarie, and non-Jewish husband to Dresden. Eva and Karl later divorced, and Eva received custody of Heidemarie. Mother and daughter moved to Merano, Italy. When Eva’s passport expired in 1938, she had to return to Germany. Believing that Heidemarie would be safer with her father, Eva gave custody back to Karl in Dresden. Eva returned to Cologne, where both she and her mother Else were eventually caught by the SS. Else was sent to Auschwitz, where she was killed. Eva was sent to Ravensbrück in 1943.
Near the end of the war, she was forced on a death march, from which she escaped. Eva eventually returned to Dresden to find her daughter. She arrived to find the town in ruin from air raids, and learned that Heidemarie had died from the attacks.
This page comes from a cookbook Eva created while imprisoned in Ravensbrück.
Last Edited: Apr 22, 2020
Author(s):
United States Holocaust Memorial Museum, Washington DC
Critical Thinking Questions
What might have motivated people in camps and ghettos to collect and preserve recipes and create cookbooks under such difficult conditions?
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