Furniture company IKEA has agreed to donate 6 million euros ($6.5 million) to aid victims of forced labor under the communist regime in East Germany. This action is expected to pressure other companies to take similar steps.
During the Cold War, political and criminal prisoners in Germany were forced to work to make furniture for IKEA. About a decade ago, the case came to light through the Swedish and German media. IKEA then ordered an independent inquiry to thoroughly investigate the matter.
Astonishingly, IK was still manufacturing prison furniture for us in the 1970s and 1980s, according to an investigation by auditor firm Ernst & Young. The investigation revealed that some IKEA representatives at the time were aware that the labor was being done by prisoners.
East Germany was occupied by the Soviet Union from 1949 to 1990, which established a staunch communist state as the German Democratic Republic (GDR). Thousands of political prisoners were forcibly sent to work in factories in this state. Any form of opposition to the one- party state in East Germany was considered a crime. Therefore, such dissidents were punished by the Stasi secret police.
In this context, IKEA Germany said in a statement that IKEA Germany will contribute 6 million euros to the new government’s fund for the victims of the East German dictatorship. After years of efforts, Germany’s ruling coalition proposed the creation of the bailout fund in 2021, which would only be a formality after approval by the German parliament.
IKEA Germany has long been engaged in dialogue with the Union of Victims’ Organizations (UOGK). The UOGK is an organization that works to ensure justice for the victims of communist Germany in today’s constitutional state. “We have made a commitment to help those affected and are now happy to do so through funding,” an IKEA statement said.
UOGK President Dieter Dombrowski called IKEA’s decision a historic step. “IKEA responded to our communication and discussed this on an equal footing with the victims. It will be our collaborative effort that other companies should follow IKEA’s example,” he added.
Former UOGK president Rainer Wagner warned in 2012 that IKEA was only a small example of a larger issue and that other companies also needed to give these victims their due.
Evelyn Zupke, Special Representative of the GDR Victims in the German Parliament, described IKEA’s decision as a positive response. “We cannot reverse the suffering they endured in the prisons of the GDR, but today we can treat them with dignity and cooperate with them.”
