As part of the activities in Brussels, a route through Belgium’s colonial past was organized. The walk began in Cinquantenaire Park, created in honor of the 50 years of Belgium’s independence. The reddish and yellowish colors of the leaves welcomed autumn and made the park a beautiful setting in the city, but what we were about to discover would change our perspective. A large gate with three arches was the first thing one could see upon entering; passing through it, a large U-shaped building came into view, built for the 1880 World’s Fair. The intention was clear: to demonstrate the greatness of Belgium and its monarchy.
The great antagonist of this story is the former king of Belgium, Leopold II. Congo was the only African territory that personally belonged to a European monarch: Leopold II, who named it the “Congo Free State.” From this information, which had already left us stunned, we also learned about the atrocities he had committed in this immense private territory. Between 1885 and 1908, far from the civilizing and humanitarian project he had promised to the world, Congo was the scene of a terrible genocide and brutal resource exploitation. Ivory and rubber were the main interests, and the colonizers brutally exploited the Congolese, turning them into the labor force of a vast factory that was their own home.
One of the controversial issues of this historical episode is the lack of knowledge about the number of victims, although several historians have made estimates. It is impossible to know the exact figure, but some point to close to 10 million deaths.
At the time, this information eventually became known and Leopold II was strongly condemned by public opinion. Even so, there we were, contemplating an enormous tribute to a genocidal ruler that sought to display the greatness of that era. The forgetting and whitewashing by the Belgian monarchy were evident.
Statue of Leopold II in the center of Brussels
We continued walking through the park and found another monument where one could see a depiction of how Belgium had “guided” Congo toward civilization and the “light of progress.” In red graffiti one could read “mort aux colons” and “Belgique état colon.” In front of it were two primary schools on a field trip; the teachers were explaining something to them and then they took a class photo in front of the monument. This confirmed to us that the history we were hearing, and the history that had inspired those graffiti, was very different from the one those Belgian children had learned.
Plaque in honor of the Belgian royal family 
Monument representing the Belgian past in the Congo
This activity has been developed in the frames of the Youth Participation Activity project Towards Inclusive Europe - Cap a l'Europa Inclusiva, supported by the Erasmus+ programme co-funded by the European Union and Coordinated by AHEAD.
Find further information about the project in: https://aheadedu.org/en/projects/towards-inclusive-europe/
The European Commission's support for the production of this publication does not constitute an endorsement of the contents, which reflect the views only of the authors, and the Commission cannot be held responsible for any use which may be made of the information contained therein.