Nazi era reappraised

More forced laborers at Bahlsen than previously known

(Bild: AFP)

Five years after the outrageous statements made by the company's heiress, a study is reappraising the history of the cookie manufacturer Bahlsen. Verena Bahlsen attracted a lot of criticism for herself and the company when she claimed in 2019 that forced laborers at Bahlsen had been "treated well" during the Nazi era. Shortly afterwards, she apologized and spoke of a mistake. But the name Bahlsen was suddenly no longer just synonymous with Leibniz cookies and pick-up bars.

The public discussions had led to an intensive examination of the past, the family now announced in a statement. "We were not aware of many details from the company's history and the truth is that we did not ask." A study by the historians Manfred Grieger and Hartmut Berghoff was therefore commissioned to provide answers. The result is a 600-page book entitled "The History of the House of Bahlsen", which covers the years from 1911 to 1974.

Bahlsen profited from National Socialism
The result of the investigation: the company supported the Nazi regime and profited from the system, in particular through the use of forced laborers; Bahlsen employed more forced laborers than previously known. Business under National Socialism picked up enormously.

Werner M. Bahlsen ran the cookie empire for decades.

(Bild: AFP)

According to the company, more than 800 foreign workers performed forced labor for Bahlsen between 1940 and 1945. According to Bahlsen, most of them were women from Poland and Ukraine. The forced laborers in Germany were generally subject to far-reaching racially motivated discrimination, as the authors explain. People from Poland had to wear a purple and yellow P diamond on their clothing, which made them recognizable as racially discriminated persons.

At Bahlsen, forced labourers from Poland also had to wear the stigmatizing P-sign, wrote Grieger and Berghoff. They received lower wages, smaller food rations and poorer medical care. According to the study, they were housed in barracks and excluded from public life. Social contact with Germans was forbidden. Polish men who were found to have had sexual contact with German women were threatened with execution.

Bahlsen family: "We regret the injustice"
The truth about the events of that time was uncomfortable and painful, the family continued. "We deeply regret the injustice that happened to these people at Bahlsen. We also regret that we did not face up to this difficult truth sooner." The company archive has been fully opened up for scientific research for the first time. Bahlsen generously financed the project, but did not impose any content requirements, the authors wrote. There was particularly close contact with Werner M. Bahlsen and his daughter Verena.

For decades, the company had reduced its memory of forced labor in its own company to the narrative of amicable cooperation in difficult times. Today, the company acknowledges its history. "It is up to us to keep this memory alive and ensure that this history of National Socialism is never repeated," reads a commemorative plaque in the foyer of the parent company.