What is the first thing that comes to mind when you think of Belgium? Waffles? Chocolate? Or maybe the fine taste of its alcohol? Perhaps its wonderful rubber — wait, rubber? One of the most criminal aspects of history is how historians say that “history is written by the victors.” Everyone knows that during the 19th to 20th centuries, several European countries carved out colonies from Africa, where they were free to economically exploit the people there en masse. Not many people know about the Belgian role in colonial Africa. Even less people know about the atrocities committed by Belgium during this era. Mainly because Belgium, who made a living and a killing from their “business partner” in the Congo, has quite literally swept that history under the rug, molding, decaying away, never to be seen again. Essentially, they got away with murder. Roughly 10 million, too. For simplicity’s sake, this was quite literally the equivalent of the Atlantic slave trade, with more than twice the amount of deaths — all while pillaging and stealing all the valuable rubber, rather than cotton, for themselves.

Speaking of stealing, many enslaved Congolese people had lost their hands and arms. Not from machinery or injuries on the field, mind you. For every shot fired, soldiers were made to account for these bullets with the severed hand of a dead rebel. Here’s the kicker. Belgian chocolates, big hit. But Belgian “black hand” chocolates, now that’s just a little evil. Very evil, in fact. To be completely fair, the origin of the hand-shaped chocolates comes originally from Belgian mythology, from times dating back to around the Roman Empire. The myth is that a giant demon severs the hands of merchants who refuse to pay their dues to him. Then, a Roman soldier slays the giant and even hacks off his hand, throwing it into the river. The town of Antwerp, literally translated as “hand-throwing,” produced these famous chocolates in the shape of severed hands for centuries. However, given the time between 1885 and the present day, the country has had all this time to recall them or change tradition a bit to avoid treading on the fact that 10 million people had been brutalized, murdered, raped and robbed. It was essentially a colonial genocide, and you’re eating chocolates in shape of the parts severed from the victims? Don’t even get me started on the irony that the giant was the one who cut off countless of innocent people’s hands, as well.

In the dying days of the Belgian colony of the Congo around 1960, Congolese forces “mutinied against their white Belgian commanders at the Thysville military base, seeking higher pay as well as greater opportunity and authority,” according to the Department of State’s Office of the Historian, eventually leading to a war between Belgium and the rebel forces. Things happen, eventually America and the Soviet Union show up, the usual Cold War things happen. You and I both know things never work out once America shows up in your country. The American side wins due to McCarthyism, with the national patriotism for thwarting communism at an all-time high. The United Nations Operation in the Congo (ONUC) troops were more than excited to enter an African country and fight a war. Still, after all was said and done, there were no reparations from Belgium nor the ONUC troops. After half a century of colonialism, war, infighting and occupation, still nothing.

So, you ask, why Belgium? Why don’t you talk about Britain? Or maybe Japan? To which I respond that the atrocities Belgium has committed are largely unknown. Britain has colonized a majority of the free world. Japan’s atrocities in Nanjing are taught today as a justification for the atomic bombs. Belgium is a tiny country on the edge of Europe, known for its waffles and chocolates. There is a stark difference between each country’s significance.

It was only 2020 when Belgium issued the first official apology toward the Congo. Yeah. An apology. And this was mainly due to the fact that Black Lives Matter protestors called for the destruction of statues of King Leopold II, the monarch responsible for the cruelty in the Congo. Eventually, some statues were reluctantly destroyed, and many others were vandalized. Most recently, Belgium’s own Princess Esmeralda has called for an apology, and a sincere one at that.

Allow me to put the atrocities into perspective. Imagine the entire population of Pennsylvania gets killed by some serial killer. Let’s assume the rest of the world doesn’t even care about Pennsylvania, so they don’t even know about the deaths. Twenty years from now, the serial killer says, “Look guys, my bad, I killed everyone in Pennsylvania. Whoopsie.” Because the statute of limitations period has ended, the serial killer has gotten away with what I’ll call “state-icide.” Luckily for us, the statute of limitations doesn’t apply in regard to colonial atrocities. In simpler terms, there is absolutely nothing stopping Belgium from apologizing sincerely and paying reparations for its colonial past.

What angers me most about Belgium, at least compared to the other war criminal states, is not a single person talks about it. In fact, it has been pretty difficult finding information regarding this tragedy. It’s obscure, it’s niche and because Belgium thrived from it, they successfully escaped from the consequences. You will not learn about this unless you take a genocide history class, or hear about it from someone else who knows about it.

Africa, to this day, remains the most scarred continent from the chains and shackles of imperialism, and one simple apology 120 years after everything has been said and done isn’t doing anyone any favors. In fact, it only seems to be rubbing salt in the wound. This essentially is due to the fact that it has been forgotten. Hopefully, by raising awareness about it, there is a chance of at least healing the scars of colonialism. In fact, as sad as it was, the Black Lives Matter movement was a pivotal point in changing what was initially a resounding “no” from the Belgian government into a first attempt at apologizing and making up for their past. Awareness, unity and ambition is the only true way change can be achieved, especially in this scenario.

Joshua Rivera is a sophomore majoring in geology.