Honey Cake & Latkes: Recipes from the Old World by the Auschwitz-Birkenau Survivors

Proceeds from the sale of this book benefit the Auschwitz-Birkenau Memorial Foundation.

Out of the tragedy of WWII concentration camps came stories of survivors. Many of them passed down memories of those who were lost—and ways of life which vanished—which were anchored in stories of food and meals.

Here, in more than 100 recipes, survivors share their stories, or are remembered by their children and grandchildren for the dishes that became their signatures.

Eugene Ginter says his mother invented a sandwich of chocolate, black bread, and butter because when she found him after the war he was emaciated and she was trying to fatten him up. Eva Szepezi's Hungarian pancakes with apricot jam recall an apricot tree under which she played with a brother and cousins who did not come back from Auschwitz.

Other recipes are more forward-looking. Eva Kerenyi's cold strawberry soup was a reinvention of cherry soup from her childhood, taking advantage of fruit that was more abundant in America. And it is a recurring theme that the recipes shared here have become centerpieces of family holiday meals.

Most recipes come from Hungarian or Polish families, but there are contributions as well from Ukraine, Romania, Czechoslovakia, the Netherlands, and Germany. An album of the survivors includes photos from the pre-war era as well as more recent portraits.

Hardcover. Color photographs throughout.