Cela’s Sponge Cake In Loving Memory of Cela & David Miller

Submitted by Minda Miller & Family

All images courtesy of Minda Miller & Family

The double wedding of Cela and Bluma Tyszgarten to David Miller and Felix Goldberg in a displacement camp in Landsberg, Germany in July, 1946.

Cela & David Miller at a party.

Cela and David Miller were the first of several survivors to arrive in Columbia in May 1949. After surviving the horrors of the Holocaust and losing their families they wanted to come to the United States.  Beth Shalom Synagogue became their sponsor. The Jewish community here welcomed them with open arms, and they cherished their lifelong friendships within this community. The community provided housing, jobs, and English lessons and assisted them in adapting to their new country. Shortly after their arrival, Cela encouraged her sister Bluma and Bluma’s husband Felix to join them. Cela and David lived briefly with the Gendil family before moving into houses on Whaley, Gadsen and finally Sylvan Drive.  Here they were able to rebuild their lives and start a family.  Rita was born in 1950 and Henry in 1953. Cela and David were blessed with four grandchildren: Robyn & Bryan Blank and Dawn & Bret Miller. They were active members of Beth Shalom, Hadassah, B’nai Brith and the Jewish Community Center. Once retired, you would regularly find them at Shabbat services, always in the same row near the front. David, especially after his strokes, looked forward to services and Kiddush lunch with his family each week. Along with Bluma and Felix, they created an extended family among other survivors including: Luba and Bernard Goldberg, Jadzia and Ben Stern, and Ben Sklar.

The Miller family at granddaughter Dawn’s Bat Mitzvah.

David was given a job in the warehouse of Columbia Liquor Distributors. Encouraged by Bob Burg Sr., he saved his money and opened several downtown liquor stores. His first store on Gervais Street was across from the Capital and adjacent to the Capital Newstand and The Marmack Hotel. Politicians often stopped in. Cela ran the Lady Street store. Helen Silver, who owned a retail store downtown, would often come by to “kibitz” with Cela.

Dawn and Bret were fortunate to spend many Sunday family dinners at Grandma and Zadye’s growing up. Holidays were always special. Cela’s kreplach were the BEST and a family favorite. As hard as I try, mine are never as good. She was known around town for her delicious sponge cake. Cela also made homemade gefilte fish for the holidays. Henry remembers wistfully always begging his mom to let him turn the crank on the grinder when she was preparing the gefilte fish. Cela would have to remind David to ask his warehouse buddies, Joe Lorick and “Skinnyboy”, to go fishing before Rosh Hashanah and Passover so she would have fresh fish to prepare.

As we commemorate the 75th anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz on Jan 28, 2020, I would like to share their stories of survival.

Sisters Cela and Bluma Tyszgarten.

Cela Tyszgarten was born in the small town of Pinczow, Poland. Her father was a leather merchant and the family lived behind the shop in the center of town. Cela was the second of six siblings. Life was happy and comfortable until the war changed everything. In 1939 the Nazis invaded Poland and burnt down their town. The family moved in with relatives on the outskirts of town for three years. During that time, the situation for Jews grew increasingly difficult.

In 1942, the roundup of Polish Jews intensified. Jews were being sent to Treblinka, an extermination camp. Cela’s parents had to make some difficult decisions. Her mother, fearing the worst, made a decision no parent should be forced to make. She stuffed what little money she had into Cela’s pocket and literally forced Cela (age 18) and her sister Bluma (age 16) to flee to the woods nearby. In her wisdom, she was giving Cela and Bluma a chance to live. The girls, crying, walked into the forest where they hid for several weeks. After being captured they were used as slave labor in several factories. They later were moved to Bergen Belsen and finally liberated at Kaufering.  Both were sick and taken to a hospital in Landsburg, Germany where they learned that the rest of their family had perished.

David Miller.

David was born in Warsaw, Poland in 1921.  He was the only son in a family of six.  In September 1939, German troops began to occupy Warsaw. In October 1940, the Warsaw Ghetto was established.  Conditions in the Warsaw Ghetto were unbearable: overcrowding, disease, starvation and death made life a daily struggle. From the ghettos, Jews were being sent to extermination camps. April 19, 1943 was the start of the month long Warsaw Ghetto Uprising. David escaped through the sewers as one of the last of the Jews to leave the Ghetto alive.  He was captured in May 1943 and taken to Auschwitz. Instead of being sent to the gas chamber, David was assigned to labor in the coal mines nearby. In the final weeks of the war, he was sent on a death march to Buchenwald.  Among those prisoners was David’s close friend, Felix Goldberg, who worked with him in the coal mines. Although weak and brutally emaciated, they both managed to survive the march by locking arms together and encouraging the other to hang on. 

With the war finally over, David and Felix were sent to the Displaced Persons Camp in Landsburg, Germany. This is where the friends would regain their strength.  David would confirm he was the sole survivor of his family. It was in the DP camp that he and his buddy Felix Goldberg met Cela and Bluma. They were married in a double wedding in July 1946.

Cela and David Miller (left) and Bluma and Felix Goldberg (right) after the war.

Cela and David Miller relaxing at home with their dog, Cloe.

We lost Cela in 2000 and David in 2011. They are greatly missed, but we cherish all our happy family memories and try to carry on their legacy of teaching the lessons of the Holocaust and promoting tolerance and justice for everyone.

Cela and David Miller pose with their children and grandchildren.

In 2012, I contributed the following recipes and Cela’s story of survival to Miracles & Meals, Volume II, by Joanne Caras. Caras’s books honor Holocaust survivors through their testimonies and recipes. Royalties for the sale of this cookbook is donated to Carmei Ha’ir, an organization in Israel that serves over 500 meals a day to poor and hungry Israelis, many of whom are Holocaust survivors.

Sponge Cake

By Cela Tyszgarten Miller

• 10 eggs separated

• 1 1/2 cups sugar

• 3/4 cup matzo cake meal

• 3/4 cup potato starch

• 6 oz. orange juice

• Fresh strawberries, optional

Add sugar to beaten egg yolks.

Combine cake meal and potato starch.

Add cake meal mixture to egg yolks

Add orange juice and beat.

In separate bowl, beat the 10 egg whites until stiff peaks form.  Fold this into the meal mixture.

Place in an ungreased tube pan. (Do not grease pan as it will ruin the cake.)

Bake about 50 minutes at 325 degrees.

After removing from the oven turn cake upside down in pan to cool.  Allow to cool for a couple hours.

Serve with fresh berries & whip cream, optional.

Kreplach

By Cela Tyszgarten Miller

Beat 5 eggs and add little salt. 

Add 5 cups of flour.

Then add 1/2 cup warm water.

Knead the dough until all ingredients are mixed well and separate into 2 parts. Set aside in refrigerator.

Chop 5 onions and sauté in olive oil until soft. Brown 2 pounds ground meat. Pat dry to remove any liquid.

Mix with onions. Add a little pepper.

Roll out the dough thinly and cut into about 3-inch circles. Place spoonful of meat mixture on dough and fold over in half. Press edges together tightly.

Boil in salted water until they are done. Add to your favorite chicken soup recipe.