Fri November 16, 2012 East German Political Prisoners Made Some
Of Its Products, IKEA Admits News outlets in German and Sweden
have been reporting for the past year that some of the products
made in past decades for Swedish furniture giant IKEA were
produced by political prisoners in Cold War-era East Germany.
Today, IKEA conceded that the reports are true and that some of
its "representatives" were aware of what was happening. "We are
deeply sorry that this could happen," Jeanette Skjelmose, head
of sustainability at IKEA of Sweden, told the Aftonbladet
newspaper, according to English-language The Local. After the
news reports, IKEA asked auditors Ernst & Young to investigate.
Today, the company said that: "The investigation indicates that
political and criminal prisoners were involved in parts of the
component or furniture production units that supplied to IKEA
25-30 years ago. The investigation also shows that there were
IKEA Group representatives who at the time were aware of the
possible use of political