Congo Free State

While Adolf Hitler is widely known and condemned as one of history’s most evil figures for his role in the Holocaust, King Leopold II of Belgium was just as, if not more, evil. His reign of terror in the Congo Free State led to the deaths of an estimated ten million Africans, yet his name is rarely mentioned alongside Hitler’s. The key difference? Hitler’s victims were European, while Leopold’s victims were African. This disparity in historical recognition highlights deep racial biases in how the world remembers atrocities. When comparing the death tolls, Hitler’s regime resulted in an estimated 11 to 17 million deaths, while Leopold’s reign of terror claimed between 1.2 million to 15 million lives, with many estimates close to 10 million. Despite his unspeakable crimes, Leopold never faced justice, and history has conveniently overlooked his brutality. It is time for the world to acknowledge that Leopold II was one of history’s most evil men, just as infamous—if not worse—than Hitler himself.