From Berlin to Bittermints: the story of Ackermans Chocolates and its refugee founders

From Berlin to Bittermints is the story of how a German-Jewish refugee couple from Berlin overcame the challenges of enforced migration to become an acclaimed manufacturer of quality handmade chocolates in postwar Britain.

Werner Ackerman, a lawyer, and his pianist wife Lotte manage to escape Nazi Germany and likely death in the Holocaust with the help of influential relatives, the Kempinski family. Retraining as pastry cooks enables the Ackermans to find refuge in London but their efforts to adapt to a new life there are interrupted by the outbreak of war. While Werner is interned, his wife starts an informal handmade chocolate business on their kitchen table that evolves into one of the best-loved of all émigré enterprises and a byword for the highest-quality dark chocolate. Ackermans Chocolates is eventually awarded the Royal Warrant by the Queen Mother for its endeavours.

In this affectionate account of his grandparents and their fellow-refugee circle, the author reflects on the émigré community in which he grew up and pays tribute to a resilient and enterprising group that refused to give up after their previous lives had been shattered. Many, like the Ackermans, went on to succeed in their adopted homeland whilst clinging on to their German-Jewish heritage and culture.