IKEA Commits €6 Million to Compensate East German Forced Labor Victims
The Swedish furniture giant acknowledges its past involvement and supports a German government fund for victims of the former East German dictatorship.
- IKEA has pledged €6 million to a hardship fund aimed at compensating political prisoners forced to work in East German prisons during the Cold War.
- The fund, which awaits approval from the German parliament, is designed to support victims of the former East German dictatorship in economic distress.
- IKEA's involvement in forced labor was confirmed by a 2012 investigation, revealing that political prisoners produced goods for the company in the late 1970s and early 1980s.
- Evelyn Zupke, the German government's commissioner for SED victims, praised IKEA's commitment and expressed hope that other companies will follow suit.
- The Union of Victims' Associations of Communist Dictatorship has acknowledged IKEA's efforts and encourages other implicated companies, like Aldi, to take similar actions.
Australian Broadcasting Corporation 
Deutsche Welle 
Die Tageszeitung 
Sächsische Zeitung 
Süddeutsche Zeitung 
Westdeutsche Allgemeine Zeitung 
WELT 