A Newlywed Buried Her Cookbook in Hopes that She, and It, Would Survive
The Nazi occupation of the Netherlands in 1940 forever changed the lives of Dutch Jews, including 17-year-old Lennie Kropveld. As persecution increased and deportations began in 1942, Lennie’s family made plans to go into hiding. Lennie planned to hide with Rabbi Yitzchak Jedwab, to whom she was engaged. Her father insisted they first marry.
Before Lennie and Yitzchak went into hiding on a farm, she buried one of her wedding gifts, a kosher cookbook. She hoped that she would one day be able to go back and retrieve it.
During the two and a half years they were in hiding, Lennie sewed for the farmer’s wife, in addition to payments made by her father. Lennie became pregnant and had a very difficult pregnancy. There were constant bombings that required the four Jews on the farm to hide in a hole in the ground outside for shelter.
The farmer’s sister-in-law, a Nazi sympathizer, was staying with the family when Lennie went into labor, so Lennie and Yitzchak hid in the hayloft of the barn. Lennie could not make any noise during the delivery for fear of alerting the woman to their presence and had to cover her face with a pillow. The farmer’s wife did not want a doctor to help with the delivery, but after days of labor, Lennie was very ill and Yitzchak insisted.
Their son, Aaron, was born on September 20, 1943. For their son’s and their own safety, the new parents dressed him in handmade clothes, placed him in a cardboard box, and entrusted him to the Dutch underground — a mere 12 hours after his birth. A loving foster family cared for Aaron until he was reunited with his parents after liberation.
Despite all she had endured, Lennie did not forget about the cookbook that she had stowed away. After the end of the war, Lennie recovered her cookbook from its hiding place as she had intended to do. Today, the lovingly dog-eared volume resides in the Museum’s collection. This artifact, which Lennie herself entrusted to our care, now serves as a tangible reminder of the strength and perseverance of the human spirit.
As the Holocaust recedes in time and we lose its eyewitnesses, it becomes more and more important for the Museum to make accessible the personal stories of those who lived through it.
Recipes like these from Lennie’s cookbook are a very special way we can do that:
Apple Tart
Ingredients:
Puff pastry
1 kilogram of apples
100 grams raisins
50 grams almonds
250 grams sugar
and some cinnamon
(1 kilogram = 35.3 oz, 100 grams = 3.5 oz, 50 grams = 1.75 oz, 250 grams = 8.8 oz)
Peel the apples and grate them with a vegetable grater. Wash the raisins, peel and shred the almonds, add the sugar and the cinnamon. Roll out the puff pastry and place it in the bottom of the baking dish. Pour the prepared cake filling in the baking dish and cover it with a lattice made of leftover puff pastry. Bake the cake in an all-around equally heated oven.*
- Recommended cooking temperature is 350°F for 40–60 minutes, depending on how thinly the apples are sliced (more time for thicker slices).
Fresh Green Pea Soup
Ingredients:
100 grams shelled green peas
25 grams butter
1⁄2 tbsp flour
1 tbsp rice
Fine cut parsley
Salt
(100 grams = 3.5 oz, 25 grams = 0.9 oz)
Cook the green peas in sufficient water until they are done. Roast the flour in the butter and sprinkle it with some water from the green peas. Wash the rice and let it cook in the soup. Shortly before serving the soup, add the fine cut parsley and let it cook.
View additional photographs donated by Lennie to the Museum.
