"Why is it that when millions die in Europe, we call it a Holocaust, but when millions die in Africa, it’s just history?"

Between 1885 and 1908, in the heart of Central Africa, millions of Congolese people were mutilated, tortured, enslaved, and killed under the brutal regime of King Leopold II of Belgium. This was not a civil war. It was not famine. It was a colonial extraction system powered by greed — and soaked in blood.

Leopold controlled the Congo Free State as his personal business empire, exploiting rubber and ivory while inflicting terror on the local population. If quotas weren’t met, hands were chopped off. Entire villages were burned. Children were orphaned. Bodies were left to rot. The estimated death toll? Between 10 and 15 million human beings.

And yet… where are the museums? Where are the international remembrance days? Where are the reparations?

The Holocaust, which took the lives of 6 million Jews and millions of others, rightfully occupies a central place in global memory. It was evil. It was industrial. It was genocide. But why is Africa's pain forgotten? Why is Congo’s genocide reduced to a footnote — or worse, a "business failure"?

This silence is not accidental. Colonial crimes have been systematically erased by the very powers that committed them. Europe wrote the history books. Africa buried the bodies.

Let’s be clear: This was not "business gone wrong."
This was mass murder, driven by white supremacy, capitalist greed, and complete disregard for African life.

And if we don’t name it — if we don’t call it what it was — we are complicit in the continued devaluation of Black life.

We don’t compare atrocities to compete in suffering. We compare them to ask:
Whose lives are remembered? And whose are disposable?

It’s time to end the silence.
It’s time to say their names.
It’s time to teach the truth.

What was the Holocaust?

• The Holocaust refers specifically to the systematic, state-sponsored genocide of 6 million Jews by Nazi Germany under Adolf Hitler during World War II.

• It also involved the targeted murder of millions of others, including Roma (Gypsies), disabled individuals, Poles, Soviet POWs, and others based on ideology or ethnicity.

• It is called a "Holocaust" due to its industrialized nature, state coordination, use of gas chambers, and the intent to completely eliminate a group.

Why isn’t Congo’s tragedy called a Holocaust?

• The word "Holocaust" is specifically used for the Nazi genocide, and it's tied to intentional extermination.

• Congo’s tragedy is often referred to as a crime against humanity, colonial genocide, or atrocity, but historically it didn’t get the same attention due to:

  • Racism and Eurocentrism at the time.

  • Less media and photographic documentation.

  • Political interests in Europe suppressing the truth.

  • Lack of survivors with international platforms.

Are both tragedies remembered equally?

• No. The Holocaust has been deeply studied and remembered globally, in part because it took place in modern Europe, involved the West directly, and had extensive documentation.

• Congo’s atrocities were covered up or forgotten for decades, and only more recently have scholars and activists begun to call for equal recognition.

Does comparing them help?

• Comparing tragedies to diminish one or elevate another is often unproductive and disrespectful to the victims.

• It’s more constructive to acknowledge both:

  1. The Holocaust as one of history’s worst genocides.

  2. The Congo atrocities as one of the most horrific colonial crimes ever committed.

Final Note:

If your goal is justice for Congo's forgotten victims, many historians, human rights activists, and Congolese voices argue that greater awareness, reparations, and education are overdue. The goal shouldn’t be to compete in suffering but to ensure all crimes against humanity are remembered and prevented.