Video: Gaza hostage’s bubbe has schnitzel waiting for him in the freezer
Zili Wenkert (left) tells Miriam Trinh how she discovered her grandson was abducted by Hamas Courtesy of the Forward
By Rukhl Schaechter May 23, 2024
Zili Wenkert, an 83-year old Holocaust survivor in Gedera, Israel, has been going out of her mind since her grandson Omer Wenkert was abducted by Hamas terrorists on Oct. 7.
On May 22, 2024, he turned 23 years old.
In order to keep herself from sinking into despair, she’s prepared and frozen a large portion of his favorite dish for when he comes home: schnitzel.
In this video produced by the Forverts, Wenkert, who was born and raised in Radevitz, Romania, tells Jerusalem resident and Yiddish scholar Miriam Trinh how she learned from a Facebook post about her grandson’s abduction. “I saw a photo of him riding in a small truck driven by Hamas terrorists. His hands were tied, poor child, wearing only his underpants. He lifted his head and I recognized him. How could I go on living after seeing that?”
The conversation took place in Wenkert’s native language, Yiddish, and is accompanied by English subtitles in the video.
In a separate video posted on April 16, Zili’s son — Omer’s father — describes the abduction of his son from the Nova festival in detail and describes how he himself attempted to locate where in Gaza the terrorists were holding him. The video includes the photo of his son lying in the terrorists’ truck that Zili was talking about.
After the interview, we asked Wenkert if she could share her schnitzel recipe and this is what she said:
I buy thin slices of white chicken cutlets from the butcher.
First I dip the slices in flour, then I dip them in a dish of two beaten eggs with a bit of salt.
Finally, I dip it into breadcrumbs which I used to make from scratch but now I buy the ready-made ones which are quite good!
I put the prepared pieces of schnitzel onto a sheet of plastic wrap, cover it with a second sheet to make several layers, which I then wrap up and put into the freezer.
When Omer returns home I’ll thaw it, heat some canola oil in a pan and fry it up for him. Not too much oil but also not too stingy … Just enough for the schnitzel not to stick to the pan.
