SS-Brotfabrik Oranienburg-Sachsenhausen

Photographs of SS-Brotfabrik site can be viewed here.

In 1939, prisoners from KZ-Sachsenhausen were forced to build a modern bakery to the north of Oranienburg at Lehnitz Lock, for the SS holding company, Deutsche Ausrüstungswerke. 

Owing to war related shortages in sourcing the correct baking materials, bread production did not start until March 1941.  About six months later, the bakery was taken over by Deutsche Lebensmittel GmbH, which supplied Sachsenhausen concentration camp and other SS units and departments in Oranienburg, Berlin and the surrounding areas.

About 80 prisoners baked and distributed the bread.  Among them were Poles, Latvians, Germans, Dutch and others.  Each day they had to march from the main camp to the bakery, a distance of about 2,5km.  In 1943 they were moved to Klinkerwerk External Camp.  After shift-work was introduced, working hours were extended and two field ovens installed, raising production from 30.000 loaves to 43.000 during 1943.  The original quanity produced during 1941 was 10.000 loaves per day.

The Mittelbau-Dora, Groß Rosen and Ravensbrück concentration camps were also supplied by this time.

After liberation by the Soviet troops in 1945, Red Army soldiers ran the bakery for a while, enabling them to supply the sick and weak survivors at KZ-Sachsenhausen.  During 1946 the bakery was taken over by Niederbarnim District Works Cooperative.  Following extensions and conversion work, the bakery was run as the Konsum-Großbäckeri Oranienburg from 1948 to 1991. 

On September 4, 1994 a fire destroyed parts of the interior of the disused bakery, which is now a listed building.