R.I.P.

Leopold II

1835 – 1909

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The Butcher of Congo

Belgian king who owned the Congo Free State as personal property. His regime of forced rubber extraction featured systematic mutilation (hand amputation as punishment), hostage-taking, murder, and worked millions to death.

Why They're Here

Perhaps history's most brutal colonial regime. The Congo atrocities were so extreme they shocked even other colonial powers and sparked the first international human rights movement.