While slavery was outlawed in most countries by the 1960s, indentured servitude was steadily rising

de bene esse: literally, of well-being, morally acceptable but subject to future validation or exception

Though slavery has been largely gone from the civilized world for quite some time, the dark, seedy underbelly of indentured servitude was always lurking. In Switzerland, some children were taken from their parents and sent to become Verdingkinder, or "indentured child laborers," all the way into the 1960s.

The children were taken because their mother was either unmarried, extremely poor, or of gypsy origin. Their new families mostly consisted of poor farmers who could not afford proper labor and required the help of cheap child labor. It's also estimated that about 20% of all the agricultural labor in the Canton of Bern (a Swiss province) was done by children below the age of 15.

Investigations showed that in 1930 there were about 35,000 indentured children, but the real number is expected to be about double that. The benefit to everyone but the children and their family was two-fold: the farmer got cheap labor and the authorities didn't have the financial burden of looking after the children.

As of April 11, 2013, the Swiss government made an official apology, but compensation for the children's hardships, many who are still relatively young and alive now, isn't expected.

(Source)