This is a photo of a rubber worker in the Belgian Congo staring at the severed hands and feet of his five-year-old daughter. She was murdered because he failed to meet his quota for the day. Today, the photo serves as a stark reminder of the brutality that came with colonialism.
> **Nsala of Wala in the Nsongo District (Abir Concession)** is a photograph published by Edmund Dene Morel in his book *King Leopold’s Rule in Africa*, in 1904. The image depicts a Congolese man named Nsala examining the severed foot and hand of his five-year-old daughter, Boali. The photograph was taken by Alice Seeley Harris, the wife of a missionary, in the village of Baringa on 14 May 1904. It was subsequently employed as a tool in the media campaign against the inhumane situation in the Congo Free State, which was largely characterised by rubber exploitation.
* Excerpted from [Nsala of Wala in the Nsongo District](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nsala_of_Wala_in_the_Nsongo_District) at the English Wikipedia
I can’t imagine what that guy is feeling in that moment. It’s just an inconceivably painful and unfair thing to have done to your child. It’s hard to bear just imagining being in his place at that time.
Never forget about King Leopold II. – Belgiums Hitler. 1.5 to 13 million victims.
Edit: Guys, this is not about a comparison of „which dictator was worse“. Can we agree that he is on the big list of scumbags and will not be forgotten?
Recommend the book Leopold ‘s Ghost about Belgian atrocities in Congo.
Fuck. My daughter is five years old…this one hit the feels hard.
The King of the Belgians has expressed “regret” for “the wounds of the past” but he refuses to name Leopold as ultimately responsible.
The brutality of humanity. I mean what the fuck. Heartless and cruel
I can understand why this will never be forgiven. It has no connection to my past, but even I will never forgive or forget it.
Yeah leopold was a fuckin psycho
Now the descendants of this man are living in a bad economy full of diseases
while the descendants of the people who cut the hands and feet are living in excess
Just FYI colonialism still continues in different forms and shapes in africa .
I’d be psychotic. Not even kidding. I would let reality go. I’d be a wounded animal.
Even looking at this, reading it again years after seeing it the first time, my stomach cramps up and my heart rate increases. My kids aren’t little anymore, but they were so fragile, innocent, carefree.
Anyone who would do a thing like this doesn’t deserve to exist. I wish hell were real.
The worker’s daughter was killed, cooked, and cannibalized by members of the Force Publique (the military of the Congo Free State) in 1904.
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leopold_II_of_Belgium
The reason the hands and feet are cut off is because Leopold II was so miserly that he ordered every bullet used by his soldiers in the Congolese colonies be accompanied by the hands and feet of the person they shot so as to prevent bullets from being used carelessly.
And the European nation have to audacity to lecture other countries about human rights violations when they themselves don’t acknowledge there disgusting colonial practices.
They wonder why we’re still mad
And then when the congo wanted to break free of Belgiums influence for very obvious reasons and sell their own resources however they saw fit Belgium, with the full support of the UN, had the popular leader Patrice Lumumba assassinated and replaced with a warlord. We are not the good guys folks.
This makes me feel deeply ashamed to be a Belgian.
Although we know Leopold II was a bad guy, seeing this picture makes me feel like the extend of his cruelty is way to much left out of our history books.
This shows once more the hypocrisy that comes along with those who are in power. However in this case our history is beyond cruel.
Feel terrible on a Sunday to see this post and realized how little I know about all these atrocities committed under the guise of colonialism and by colonist . Fuck u Leopold 2
I can’t do this photo 🫣
This is what humanity has done to each other…and continues to do to each other. What a species we are.
Basically, he also lost his life. When you lose everything, his everything, you take everything from those who did it to you.
This happened long time ago and we are feeling sad for the victims. Even today children are being burnt and maimed with full support of the champions of human right i.e. Americans and their allies in west. Human kind hasn’t leant to be kind.
But still the Belgians fantasized themselves as civilized and morally superior to the population. Atrocious.
Blaming this on “colonialism” is like blaming WWII on Europe.
Like Hitler gets the blame for the Holocaust, this atrocity has a name and it is Leopold II of Belgium.
Good lord humans can be just so incredibly evil…
Never forgive and never forget.
assholes
I just got an immediate wish for retribution for the historic villain who came up with such grotesque physical and psychological bullshit torture to such an innocent young soul. I also wish I could give this man a hug.
… and Amazon workers have the nerve to strike!
They never had it so good!
/s
King Leopold’s Ghost is a great and informative read on this subject.
Did the current Belgium government pay any compensation money to the Congo government for this injustice?
As soon as I saw this picture I knew I had scrolled too far today. But here we are, with this tragic image that for me has been one of the most haunting experiences of my internet life. It has never left me since the first time I saw it; no other image has left me so bereft and traumatized. No amount of tears could ever equate enough grief for the unthinkable crimes committed by the colonists in this region. It has left a scar on my heart and the little girl will not be forgotten for as long as I live.
To those who feel as I do, I say peace to all and love one another. Forgive, be generous, and be merciful. I could really use a hug right now and I’m sure many of you do too.
The darkness of humanity is simply the worst thing on the planet, but let’s remember the good side, which can be awe-inspiring. This one image and the story behind it nearly broke me when I saw it about ten years ago. It was a singularity of evil and ultimate tragedy that no human mind could witness without being forever changed.
It’s the most awful thing but we’re all here together to grieve and wallow and rage. Whatever you feel, you’re not alone.
Edit: spelling, wording. (Absorbd to Witness)
Humans are scums. I’m afraid nothing can proof me otherwise. We’re egoistic and destructive by nature. The way we exploit animals and nature on a daily basis is a proof of that. The only thing I can comfort myself with is, that we’re slowly growing more compassionate. Though I don’t think we’ll learn fast enough until we wipe our self out, either by global warming, conflicts and/or diseases
“Hey why do you guys still hate us?”
It’s weird to think the ceos wonder why we hate them all and cheered when shit head hit the ground
Never forget India’s hitler- winston churchil. Killed more than 5 million Indians.
The amount of murder I would commit.
Jesus Christ. Is this real?
r/sadasfuck
I don’t know what level he had access to, but I, in his place I would have certainly spent my life and myself utterly in the pursuit of the killer or, better, his CEO.
The redacted podcast takes a deep dive into this. Leopold was a monster.
This kind of history makes me sick
This shit is still happening today in asia and africa without any colonialism in sight. Just regular culture in some regions.
if hell exists, i hope leopold ii of belgium, the human trash of monarch who initiated, is burning alive for eternity.