November 27, 2024

Holocaust survivors share recipes in cookbook: “It reminds you of your family”

Holocaust #Holocaust

0127-cbsm-holocaustsurvivors-duncan-1661519-640x360.jpg © Credit: CBSNews 0127-cbsm-holocaustsurvivors-duncan-1661519-640×360.jpg

At 84-year-old Tova Friedman’s house, three generations gather around a dining room table for Shabbat dinner. 

It is a dream that Friedman never imagined possible as a five-year-old in Auschwitz-Birkenau concentration camp in Nazi-occupied Poland, where 1.1 million people died. 

Friday marks 78 years since the liberation of Auschwitz.  

Eugene Ginter spent his first six years of life in the same extermination camp. The sights and sounds of genocide have left a permanent mark on both Friedman and Ginter. 

Holocaust survivors create cookbook to share Jewish recipes, stories of perseverance

SHARE

SHARE

TWEET

SHARE

EMAIL

What to watch next

  • The Death of an Officer's Wife

    Sneak peek: The Death of an Officer’s Wife

    CBS News

  • Auto thefts, carjackings in major U.S. cities have spiked, new report shows

    Auto thefts, carjackings in major U.S. cities have spiked, new report shows

    CBS News

  • Monterey Park community mourns the 11 victims of shooting

    Monterey Park community mourns the 11 victims of shooting

    CBS News

  • New evidence in Monterey Park shooting probe

    New evidence in Monterey Park shooting probe

    CBS News

  • Half Moon Bay shooting suspect makes first court appearance

    Half Moon Bay shooting suspect makes first court appearance

    CBS News

  • Raising awareness of women's heart health and sudden cardiac arrest

    Raising awareness of women’s heart health and sudden cardiac arrest

    CBS News

  • Tennessee students create robotic hand for new classmate

    Tennessee students create robotic hand for new classmate

    CBS News

  • CBS News exclusive: U.S. Marine accused of kidnapping child from Afghan couple

    CBS News exclusive: U.S. Marine accused of kidnapping child from Afghan couple

    CBS News

  • Cellphone video appears to show a violent confrontation between Arkansas police and suspect

    Cellphone video appears to show a violent confrontation between Arkansas police and suspect

    CBS News

  • U.S. and Germany supplying Ukraine with tanks

    U.S. and Germany supplying Ukraine with tanks

    CBS News

  • Conjoined twins separated by Texas doctors after "historic" 11-hour surgery

    Conjoined twins separated by Texas doctors after “historic” 11-hour surgery

    CBS News

  • Attorney for teacher shot by 6-year-old student says school failed to act on multiple warnings

    Attorney for teacher shot by 6-year-old student says school failed to act on multiple warnings

    CBS News

  • Virginia school administrators were warned 6-year-old had gun, lawyer says

    Virginia school administrators were warned 6-year-old had gun, lawyer says

    CBS News

  • Brianne Howey on starring in Netflix series "Ginny & Georgia"

    Brianne Howey on starring in Netflix series “Ginny & Georgia”

    CBS News

  • Kevin McCarthy says he'll block Democrats Adam Schiff, Eric Swalwell from intelligence panel

    Kevin McCarthy says he’ll block Democrats Adam Schiff, Eric Swalwell from intelligence panel

    CBS News

  • Hundreds attend vigil in Monterey Park after shooting

    Hundreds attend vigil in Monterey Park after shooting

    CBS News

  • Click to expand

    UP NEXT

    UP NEXT

    After liberation in 1945, Friedman and Ginter settled in the United States and have been building their lives through the families they’ve created. 

    They are also passing on traditions to new generations by having their Jewish recipes featured in the new cookbook, “Honey Cake & Latkes: Recipes from the Old World.” 

    The two first met while working on the book, which pairs more than 100 Holocaust survivors’ stories and features their family recipes. 

    “Food, it reminds you of your family and the love, like the cheesecake or the babka that my mother would make. You know, it brings back the memories of the love that she was transferring,” Ginter said.  

    Among the recipes is Ginter’s mother’s “chocolate sandwich” which his mother made for him to help him gain weight after liberation. Friedman’s kasha varnishkes are also featured.  

    First-hand accounts of Auschwitz are becoming rare as the years go by and survivors grow older. Friedman and Ginter know their stories will soon fade but their hope is that the lessons learned from such an atrocity will not.  

    “My story can be duplicated by a million and a half children who were murdered. I was just lucky. I feel almost obligated to talk about them. It’s like I am bringing them back from their ashes because I represent them,” Friedman said.  

    The book was published last September by the Auschwitz-Birkenau Memorial Foundation. All proceeds go directly to the foundation.  

    Leave a Reply