There are two notable reported instances of lampshades made from human
skin. After World War II it was claimed that Nazis had made at least one
lampshade from murdered concentration camp inmates: a human skin lampshade was
displayed by Buchenwald concentration camp commandant Karl-Otto Koch and his
wife Ilse Koch, said to be with other human skin artifacts. Despite myths to
the contrary, there were no systematic efforts by the Nazis to make human skin
lampshades; the one displayed by Karl-Otto Koch and Ilse Koch is the only one
confirmed.
In the 1950s, murderer Ed Gein, possibly influenced by the stories about the
Nazis, made a lampshade from the skin of one of his victims.
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