London, August 25 (ANI): Swedish billionaire and founder of IKEA, Ingvar Kamprad was a member of his country's Nazi party, a new book has revealed.
Kamprad was such a concern that the secret services opened a file on him. The 1943 file, revealed in a book published by Swedish journalist Elisabeth Asbrink has revived the long-standing controversy over the far right sympathies of the 85-year-old businessman.
Kamprad was an active member of Svensk Socialistisk Samling - the successor to the Swedish Nationalist Socialist Workers Party, The Telegraph reports.
The book quotes letters intercepted from Kamprad, then 17, in which he enthuses about recruiting new members and says that he 'misses no opportunity to work for the movement'.
The secret service concluded that Kamprad held some position in the organization because he received the party's youth newspaper.
Asbrink has accused Kamprad of failing to come clean about the full extent of his Nazi past.
Asbrink's book, And in Wienerwald the trees remain, describes Kamprad's friendship with a young Jewish refugee, who came to work on his family farm and then played a key role in the team that launched IKEA.
"He came from a background where it was normal to speak badly about Jews, but when he met Otto, they became the closest friends," Asbrink was quoted, as saying.
Kamprad has, however, denied the claims made in the book and termed the revelations as 'old news'.
"Ingvar Kamprad gave a detailed account back in 1994 about what he describes as his 'youthful sins' and the 'biggest mistake of his life', apologizing and asking for forgiveness from all parties involved. The IKEA he created is based on democratic principles and embraces a multicultural society," an IKEA spokesman said. (ANI)
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