improvement of lunch rations had just become a burning issue. In general, organisational skills are rare among Jewish women, but positive results are achieved when boosted by insightful intuition through the recruitment of a [78] team. Any talent requires appropriate conditions if it is to develop, while the development of organisational skills particularly requires an atmosphere of harmonious cooperation with public servants.
“After several minutes of talking with Miss B., I instinctively felt that she was the helper I needed so desperately. I did everything to ensure her getting the job,” Mrs R. recalls their first meeting.
Mrs R.’s instinct did not fail her. For Miss B. turned out to be simply the right person for the job and she helped Mrs R. achieve new heights. The condition of the kitchens required immediate and thorough renovation. Miss B. launched that reorganisation. Even though she sometimes operated in the background, her contribution was the main reason why the kitchens evolved in the right direction. Miss B. began her work by inspecting the kitchens. She visited them and closely examined their housing and sanitary conditions. She also looked into the qualifications of the personnel (from the director on top of the hierarchy to the dishwasher), menu, the proportions of products in combinations of dishes, etc. She saw omnipresent chaos and anarchy in the spheres of hygiene and diet. Miss B. corrected the mistakes and gave thorough advice. She provided instruction on how much to cook and how to combine dishes to ensure [79] maximum nutritional value. She also gave instructions about how to store food products, wash dishes, etc. She checked whether the directors and the personnel complied with her instructions. She was uncompromising in her demands and her persistence led to excellent technical achievements, menu unification, and improvement of nutritional value of lunch rations, which were now tastier and more satisfying.
Her work had been double-tracked from the beginning: internal in the kitchens and external in the office, where she focused mostly on economic matters, such as the purchase of food products and their distribution to kitchens. As the kitchen network developed, her double duties made it impossible for her to cope with all her functions. Consequently, a triumvirate of lady inspectors was created. Miss B. co-opted two more women to control the kitchens, and now they are the ones who visit people’s and self-supporting kitchens, investigating their needs and problems. They come to Miss B. every day at the end of her office hours and inform her about each kitchen’s condition.
