Visiting Jerusalem’s Yad Vashem

Family recipes are precious for those of us who love to cook. When passed down, they bind generations together through nourishment, love, and tradition. They often serve as a legacy and tribute to absent loved ones. Some are guarded as family secrets. Others are ritually made for celebrations. Some are integrated into family menus weekly or monthly.

Discussing and verbally recreating favorite recipes helped women imprisoned in concentration camps cope with their unimaginable circumstances. The fact that some of these recipes were written down and survived the war is extraordinary. The recipes are a part of these women who live on. They are cherished by their loved ones, Jewish people, or anyone who has an interest in historical cooking. They are Jewish soul food.

If you follow me on Instagram or Facebook, you know I recently kicked off a month of travel with my first-time visit to Israel. The main purpose of my trip was to attend TBEX, Travel Bloggers Exchange, a conference that brings together travel bloggers from all over the globe. I wrote about my four days in Jerusalem here.

Today is Holocaust Remembrance Day, to which I dedicate this post.

There are several wonderful tour opportunities attached to the conference.  My first tour was a visit to Yad Vashem. Yesterday, the facility held a very moving remembrance day ceremony where six survivors told their stories and lit six memorial torches in memory of the six million Jews who died in the holocaust.

I, along with my travel buddy for the month, travel advisor Vicki Winters, met our incredibly knowledgeable guide, Edna, who took us on what turned out to be a private tour. We also received special permission to take pictures.

Schindler’s List

So much has been written and discussed about this impressive place. I can add little to do it further justice. What I can share is how I felt, some of the artifacts I saw, and how it relates to my own family history.

To call Yad Vashem a “holocaust museum” is an injustice. It’s a memorial, an artifacts archive, a historical documentary, a learning center, and most of all, a deeply moving experience. I can imagine some people are not the same after visiting.

Great care is taken to present the Jews not as emaciated figures in striped pajamas, but as people who had full and productive lives before being murdered by the Nazis. Consequently, the exhibits take great care to put a human face and restore humanity to the lost.

Books ordered burned by the Nazis.

I carry Vad Yashem as one of my most vivid memories from my Israel trip. Moreover, it strengthened family connections as it inspired me to reflect on my own family’s holocaust history.

Visiting Jerusalem’s Yad Vashem – Family History

I often think my maternal Grandfather died of a broken heart. Literally.  I believe it was the weight of tragic events that finally broke it.

My Grandfather, William Reich

William Reich was one of only three of his immediate and extended Czechoslovakian Jewish family (over 60 in all) not to be murdered by the Nazis. A skilled and talented furniture maker and upholsterer, he was already living in America when WW2 broke out. His cousin escaped, managed to dodge persecution, and eventually emigrated to Israel. William’s brother had moved to Cuba, set up a business, and was murdered there. Later on, my grandfather lost his only son under tragic circumstances. Shortly after, he had a heart attack and died.

Granda Ruth, Grandpa Willy & my uncle Arthur

A person can only take so much.

Me & Grandpa Willy in Long Beach, NY 1963

This month, Jews around the world observed Passover to commemorate their freedom from slavery and celebrate renewal. Recently, I read a beautiful article my lovely friend Jamie Scher posted on Facebook about Passover being an act of resistance, and it resonated with me.

Circumstances did not stop Jewish women from cooking, creating, and documenting their recipes in impossible circumstances. An act of resistance and a tool for survival.

In Memory’s Kitchen

I’ve had this book on my shelf for over 20 years. After my visit to Israel, I reread it cover to cover. After our tour, I was chatting with Simmy Allen, the Head of the International Media Section, and the book popped into my head. I mentioned it to him, and he said the museum has cataloged many recipes. Women in the camps talked about food constantly. They recited their recipes out loud and even scratched them out on various pieces of paper.

In Memory’s Kitchen is a book of recipes compiled by Mina Pächter, a Czech Jewish woman who died in Terezin on Yom Kippur in 1944.  Through a series of people, the book was miraculously delivered to her daughter 25 years after her death.

Women were starving, didn’t have tools or ingredients, but cooked with their imaginations. They recreated their best and favorite sauces and stews, dumplings, and desserts by reciting them out loud. Or scratching the recipe down on stolen bits of paper. Yad Vashem inspired me to revisit that book to choose a recipe to share.

What to make?

So this was a tough choice. I knew I wanted to honor a recipe from someone who was imprisoned in Terezin as a nod to my grandfather’s legacy.

The recipes in the book are often missing ingredients and steps. This one was no exception. I filled in the blanks by instinct, and there were scant directions. The recipe did not specify the flavor of jam to add. Unquestionably, strawberry flavor is a classic.

The cookies are not too sweet. Also, for an oatmeal-based recipe, usually dense, these are surprisingly light and chewy.

While mixing and forming the cookies, I thought about these women in Terezin whose recipes live on today and how any of them could have been related to me. In the book, Mina sometimes mentions the name of the person a recipe came from. Consequently, I fruitlessly scoured the book for a “Reich”.

Print

Oatmeal Strawberry Thumbprint Cookies

Prep Time: 10 minutes Bake Time: 12 minutes Yield: 14 cookies

Course Cookies, Dessert

Cuisine Czech, German

Prep Time 10 minutes

Cook Time 12 minutes

Total Time 22 minutes

Servings 1 Dozen

Author Lora Wiley-Lennartz

Ingredients

• 1 cup rolled oats
• 1 cup flour
• 1/2 cup white granulated sugar
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 2 tablespoons unsalted butter room temperature
• 1 egg
• scant 1/4 cup milk
• scant 1/4 cup strawberry jam

Instructions

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.
2. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper.
3. Whisk together the oatmeal, flour, sugar baking powder, and salt.
4. Add the butter, egg, and milk to the combined dry ingredients and use a wooden spoon to mix everything into a sticky dough.
5. Wet your hands and form the dough into balls.  Flatten them slightly between your palms. Place the disks on the baking sheets and use your thumb to create an indent in the middle of each.
6. Spoon jam into the wells.
7. Place in the oven and bake for 10-12 minutes or until the cookies start to turn golden brown.
8. Remove from the oven. Transfer to a wire rack to cool.

Recipe Notes

Adapted from "Makaronen" from In Memory's Kitchen: A Legacy from the Women of Terezin byEdited by Cara De Silva. Jason Aronson Inc. 1996

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