I saw this picture earlier in the day and it definitely had an affect on me… Later in the day the image came back in my head and I had to review it again and come to terms with what happened. I’m still in total disbelief and It really hit home because I have a 5 year old daughter and can’t imagine the heartache this dad is feeling. Some people are fucking lame…

A father stares at the hands of his five year-old daughter, which were severed as a punishment for having harvested too little rubber. : WTF

It is almost certainly from the Belgian Congo. King Leopold ll took control of The Congo and claimed that he was guiding them towards independence. Instead he demanded harsh rubber harvesting quotas from the natives. If they didn’t harvest enough rubber their village would be massacred an the soldiers would cut off the hands of the corpses as proof of what they had done. They received a bounty for every hand they brought back. Many soldiers would cut the hands of living people so they could make more money.”

 

A father stares at the hands of his five year-old daughter, which were severed as a punishment for having harvested too little rubber. : WTF.