Leopold II: The Genocide Europe Refuses To Acknowledge

They taught us to condemn Hitler.

But they never told us about the man who killed more Africans than Hitler killed Europeans.

Between 1885 and 1908, King Leopold II of Belgium turned the Congo into his personal slaughterhouse, a “business venture” built on murder, rape, enslavement, and terror. Over 10 million Congolese men, women, and children were wiped out in one of the deadliest human atrocities ever committed. Yet today, Leopold’s statues still stand in Belgium. Awards are still given in his name. Streets and monuments still honour him. And the world continues to treat his genocide as a “footnote” in history.

The monster who mutilated African children for rubber is celebrated in Europe today.

The story of Congo is the story of Africa: exploited for its resources, demonised when it dares to resist, reduced to an afterthought in the annals of history, and praised only when it quietly submits to all of this.

That story will change when Africans finally choose to remember who they are, acknowledge what has been done to them, and reclaim their rightful place in the world.