Recipe Book

Suggested time: 15-20 minutes

Grades: 10+

BEFORE YOU BEGIN: Read the text In Defiance, examine the images and 3D model of the recipe book and listen to the testimony of Alex B. as he tells the story of the recipe book. 

1. Imagine that you are an historian who discovers Rebecca’s recipe book. Why would the recipe book be interesting to you as a historian? 
2. What risks did Rebecca take in creating the recipe book? What might have been the possible consequences if she had been caught?
3. Why do you think Rebecca gave up her scarce food rations to obtain needle and thread to stitch the loose pages together into a book?
4. “Defiance” means the refusal to obey someone or something. “Resistance” means the refusal to accept something. 
   • List the reasons why the recipe book might be considered an act of defiance by Rebecca?
   • Do you think the recipe book is also an act of resistance by Rebecca? Explain why or why not.
5. Watch the testimony clip of Martha S. about food and hunger in the camps. How does Martha’s testimony add to your understanding of the recipe book?

Extension Activity:

In the testimony clip Alex Buckman describes how his aunt Rebecca wrote recipes of the meals that she made for her husband and daughter before the war. Her husband was imprisoned in Buchenwald concentration camp while Rebecca was in Ravensbrück.

1. Read the translation of the letter Rebecca’s husband Herman wrote to her while she was at Ravensbrück concentration camp. Herman mentions they share a common dream. What is that dream?
2. How might creating the recipe book have helped Rebecca survive?

Here is the translation of Rebecca’s recipe for Gâteau à l'Orange (Orange Cake) taken from the pages of the recipe book: