The Facts

• Furniture firm Ikea will reportedly pay kroners 70M ($6.M) as reparations to political prisoners of the erstwhile German Democratic Republic, or East Germany, whom it used as forced labor in the 1970s-80s. Ikea's exploitation was revealed in 2012 by the Svt television network.Furniture firm Ikea will reportedly pay 70M kroners ($6.M) as reparations to political prisoners of the erstwhile German Democratic Republic, or East Germany, whom it used as forced labor in the 1970s-80s. Ikea's exploitation was revealed in 2012 by the SVT television network.

• The Swedish company has reportedly handed over a declaration of intent in this regard to Evelyn Zupke, the German government commissioner handling affairs related to injustices in former East Germany. The German parliament will soon vote on the establishment of the fund.

• An independent E&Y probe, too, confirmed in 2012 that political prisoners made furniture for Ikea during the Cold War. In 2021, Germany’s ruling coalition mooted a national fund for the survivors. Ikea Germany CEO Walter Kadnar Tuesday said “we deeply regret that this happened.”SVT showed that Ikea sourced from furniture makers who employed prisoners and the Swedish firm's top management knew about it. Its founder Ingvar Kamprad had claimed that only one supplier was involved. Often, the prisoner-made goods were exchanged for West German hard currency.