Henry Aizenman existed for over three years on daily rations of thinly-sliced, stale bread and watery soup. If he was fortunate enough to be at the front of the serving line, his reward was a small piece of potato peel floating in the soup.

After three months at Auschwitz, he had lost one-third of his body weight.

“The only reason the Germans fed us was so that we could work. It was just enough to get by for some, not enough for others,” he recalls. Many survivors weighed a mere 60-70 pounds at liberation and died in spite of the medical efforts to save them.

Cooking and enjoying a delicious meal is something Henry has enjoyed since his liberation in 1945.

“Every meal is a celebration of life,” he says. “L’Chaim!”