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The book on the history of the Bahlsen company from 1911 to 1974 will be published in August. Together with the Bahlsen company, we (Lorenz) commissioned this comprehensive study. We did this also in response to public pressure. For much too long we have not asked the questions about what happened in the years 1933 - 1945 in our company persistently enough, even though this is part of our history. It was therefore our aim to make the study fully accessible to the public. 

The independent academics Prof. Grieger and Prof. Berghoff have now investigated exactly what happened at that time. And they have worked through it, as objectively as the sources would allow after more than 80 years. 

What they found has shaken us to the core. We knew that there was forced labor at Bahlsen during the Second World War. We also knew that Bahlsen had operated a factory in Kiev during the war. But we did not know the extent or the details. What happened under the responsibility of the brothers Hans, Werner and Klaus Bahlsen were terrible injustices and cannot be excused by anything. 

It may be that the three brothers acted as entrepreneurs and not as political fanatics, as the academics say. But that doesn't make it any better from our point of view. 

What the Bahlsen brothers did during the Second World War contradicts everything we stand for, our principles and our deepest personal convictions. 

Today, the Lorenz company is based on strong values that unite all of us and which we believe in firmly - our many employees as well as our family. Our values are based on mutual esteem and respect, on cohesion and diversity. 

We stand together for a united Europe, for democracy, freedom and respect for human rights - wherever we operate.  

Hans, Werner and Klaus Bahlsen did not. They arranged themselves with the criminal Nazi regime and they profited from the war economy during the Second World War. And they were never held accountable for any of this. 

In 1999, the Bahlsen company, of which our founder Lorenz Bahlsen was still a co-owner at the time, acknowledged its responsibility for its history and the injustice committed by contributing financially to the establishment of the Foundation Initiative of German Economy for the Compensation of Former Forced Laborers (today called Foundation for Remembrance, Responsibility and Future - EVZ). 

However, there was no real debate about the company's history at the time. It is important that we can now do this and make it public. We are grateful to Prof. Grieger and Prof. Berghoff for their work in making this possible. 

As the grandchildren's generation, their work now gives us the opportunity to assess the behavior of our ancestors from some distance and draw lessons for the future. By publishing our company’s history, including its darkest chapters, we are now taking the first step. 

Moritz Bahlsen and family

In August 2024

The brothers Hans, Werner and Klaus Bahlsen, as well as the Board Members at that time, arranged themselves with the criminal Nazi regime and profited from the war economy during the Second World War, e.g. by supplying the Wehrmacht.

Bahlsen became a company important to the war effort. This way they secured production volumes and sales, access to raw materials and forced laborers who soon had to replace the absent German workers.

Hans, Werner and Klaus Bahlsen became members of the NSDAP and supported the SS financially for some time. 

Between 1940 and 1945, over 800 forced laborers were forcibly recruited for German production. These were mainly young women from Poland and Ukraine who had been torn from their homes. 

The forced laborers also included war prisoners from France, Italy and other countries.

The forced laborers were disadvantaged in many ways compared to German workers: they were forcibly recruited and had to work many more hours, they only had limited opportunities to go outside during non-working hours, they were provided with less food and received significantly lower wages. 

In order to expand the business, the company took over the management of two cookie factories in Kiev in the Nazi-occupied Ukraine from 1942 to 1943. This was also linked to the hope of a complete takeover after the war. The company thus participated in the economic exploitation of the NS-occupied Ukraine at the time.

During this time, many Ukrainian workers at the cookie factory were forcibly recruited for the German factories. 

The brothers Hans, Werner and Klaus Bahlsen were never called to account for their actions during the Second World War.

In 1999, the Bahlsen company, of which our founder Lorenz Bahlsen was still a co-owner at the time, acknowledged its responsibility for its history and the injustice committed by contributing financially to the establishment of the Foundation Initiative of German Economy for the Compensation of Former Forced Laborers (today called Foundation for Remembrance, Responsibility and Future - EVZ).

However, there was no real debate about the company's history at the time. It is important that we can do this now and make it public. 

In the years 2019 - 2024, the company's history was investigated by an independent team of academics. It is published by Wallstein Verlag: H. Berghoff, M. Grieger (2024): Die Geschichte des Hauses Bahlsen - Keks - Krieg - Konsum 1911-1974