East Germany prisoners made Aldi and VW goods during the Cold War

Supermarket Aldi and carmaker Volkswagen allegedly used East German forced labour during the Cold War. A report broadcast yesterday evening also said the communist regime forced prisoners to donate blood for sale to the West.

Documentary programme Report Mainz, which was broadcast on ARD state television on Tuesday evening, said the German Democratic Republic (GDR) sold the blood of prisoners through a Swiss middleman to the Red Cross branch of the state of Bavaria.

Former GDR health official Rudolf Uhlig told the programme that prison visits were “well worth the effort… because every time we had 60-70 blood donors, and that was a pretty good success”.

The Bavarian Red Cross confirmed to the Report Mainz programme that it bought GDR blood in the 1980s, voicing “deep regret”, but said it was unclear whether it was then aware the blood came from prisoners.

Stasi files indicated that the inmates were given no choice, citing an informant’s report that nurses once refused to cooperate as they realized “the poor prisoners… were surely all compelled”.

Historian Tobias Wunschik told the programme that “it was part of the logic of the system… that you not only exploited prisoners’ labour but… also physically took their blood and sold it in the West”.

The programme on forced labour carried out by GDR prisoners also said West German companies in a wide range of industries were taking advantage of the low-to-non-existent wages. Swedish home furnishing giant Ikea apologized after its archives threw up similar revelations.

It named Aldi and Volkswagen as two of the larger users of forced labour - even though their involvement may have been indirect and even unknowing.

A report called “Prison products for the class enemy”, written by historian Tobias Wunschik from the Stasi archive collection of East Germany’s secret service files, lays bare the trade between East and West Germany between 1970 and 1989.

Head of the archive Roland Jahn told the programme makers: “The research project showed Ikea was just the tip of the iceberg. It is has become clear from the study that many more companies than were until now known, were involved in this trade of goods which were produced by prisoners in the GDR.”

Read the Whole story here: http://www.thelocal.de/20140115/aldi-and-vw-bought-goods-made-by-gdr-prisoners

Source: The Local - AFP