10 shocking things you didn’t know were made by prison labor (With Pictures)

8. “Vintage” IKEA Products

If you got furniture pieces like tables, chairs or sofas from IKEA in the 1970s and 1980s (let’s face it, lots of people did), some of the items in your home were built by prisoners. The pieces were built by individuals who had been taken as prisoners during the Cold War, and most of the work was done in East Germany. The prisoners were paid just 40 German marks every month. This is about 4% of the monthly salary that most East Germans were making during that time. These days, IKEA doesn’t use prison labor to get its products to you, mainly because you have to put most of the furniture together yourself.