A prized family recipe for orange cake that survived the Holocaust was reproduced by a Chilliwack bakery this week to honour a Holocaust survivor.
The survivor, Alex Buckman, is the keynote speaker for the sold-out event, A Conversation with a Holocaust Survivor, at the Abbotsford campus of University of the Fraser Valley (UFV) on Wednesday (Nov. 23).
Sebastian Huebel, who teaches a history course on the Holocaust at UFV, organized the event.
Huebel invited Buckman to share his story with the class, making arrangements through the Vancouver Holocaust Education Centre.
B次元官网网址淚 wanted my students to be able hear from and speak to a survivor,B次元官网网址� Huebel recounted.
But rather than only having the speaker address his 30 students, he decided to open the event to the wider community, thinking it might attract broader interest. And it did, having sold out.
The event was described as an opportunity to: B次元官网网址淲itness a personal and powerful story of survival and courage while learning and reflecting on how we can engage in meaningful ways to build a better world.B次元官网网址�
Buckman survived the Holocaust as a child by being hidden in Belgium, but his mother perished at a concentration camp.
B次元官网网址淥ne thing that survived, however, was a cookbook including some family recipes,B次元官网网址� Huebel said.
The cookbook, and the cake recipe somehow made its way into BuckmanB次元官网网址檚 hands, having been delivered to him by another survivor.
Huebel decided to approach Travis Neels of BeNanna Bakery in Chilliwack to see if they could reproduce the decades-old cake recipe in time for the event.
B次元官网网址淪ure enough, they did!B次元官网网址�
Neels said the recipe that they converted into cupcakes included both orange juice and a bit of orange zest. It was a fun challenge to take on for the European-style bakery.
B次元官网网址淚t turned out wonderful,B次元官网网址� Neels said. B次元官网网址淚t was a simple recipe to do.B次元官网网址�
BeNanna staff baked off about 150 cupcakes from the orange cake recipe, and packed them into pastry boxes, which were handed out to attendees at the end of the Holocaust remembrance event.
In his closing remarks, the history instructor explained that one of the B次元官网网址渓asting legaciesB次元官网网址� of the Holocaust are the memories that need to be preserved.
B次元官网网址淭he Nazis in the end were not successful,B次元官网网址� Huebel said. B次元官网网址淭hey tried to eliminate all things Jewish but they didnB次元官网网址檛. There are the family stories. There are the survivors, and the memories we need to keep alive. So itB次元官网网址檚 more than a simple cupcake!B次元官网网址�
So when the event was over attendees were offered a taste of those lingering memories as a meaningful way to end it.
B次元官网网址淪o maybe we can cherish his memory, and his familyB次元官网网址檚 memory by taking that cupcake home, and the recipe, and live it.B次元官网网址�
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