Is it true that in the 1950s in Belgium there was a "human zoo" with African children?

On the network you can find photos that are indicated, teenagers from African countries are captured, who became the object of idle interest of white people in the middle of the 20th century. We checked whether such entertainment really existed in the European country.

The main photographs circulating on the Internet along with the signatures of "Human zoo ", two. One imprintes the likeness of an aviary, because of the fence of which Europeans look at the African girl. In another picture, a little African boy sits in a cage surrounded by two white girls, in some cases specifiedthat the African has become a “toy” bought by their father. According to signatures, the photographs were taken in Belgium either in 1955, or in 1958. The message of many publications is as follows: the Europeans have recently been racists relatively recently, and now they are taught other tolerance.

Photos with similar signatures posted information and entertainment resources ("Russian newspaper","Picabu"), As well as users of social networks and a blog-platform (Facebook, "Zen","VKontakte"). In 2023, the pictures were widely used in Russian-speaking Telegram channels-they were published, in particular, “Yakov Kedmi"(1.9 million views at the time of writing this analysis),"The world today with "Yuri Podolyak""(1 600 000),"Russia now"(411 000) and"Solovyov"(324 000).

Even in the era of great geographical discoveries, European travelers often brought with them the representatives of the indigenous population from the far regions, who were later put up for public display. However, intact phenomenon The so -called "human zoos "have become closer to the end of the 19th century, in The second wave of global imperialism. Race theories that grew up on the basis of ideas played a notant role in this Social Darwinism: In Europe and the United States, it has become fashionable to demonstrate immigrants from Asia and Africa in the most natural and primitive-dicar form, often near the monkeys to show the evolutionary superiority of the white race. Sometimes the show of the “natives” was part of the so -called colonial exhibitions at which the economic achievements of the colonies represented. Human zoos could be visited in Antwerp, Barcelona, ​​Hamburg, London, Milan, New York and Warsaw-the city, which then entered the Russian Empire.

Among the states that had overseas territories in the second half of the 19th century, Belgium was also. The main driving factor in their development and use was the king Leopold II - A supporter of the ideas of colonialism, who, from 1885 to 1908, was actually the sole owner of the Congo's free state of the free state. Over the years, the population of the region, abandoned to grow rubber and ivory production, According to experts, halved - from 20 to 10 million people. Especially for the World Exhibition of 1897, which was held in Brussels, Leopold ordered to recreate in his country estate a high fence, but open to visitors Congolese villageWhere he brought 267 men, women and children. Some of them died of pneumonia and influenza, others fell ill due to eating sweets abandoned by the crowd.

In 1908, a year before his death, Leopold Sold The territory of the free state of the Congo to the Belgian government, and the colonial life continued there, but with less catastrophic consequences.

By the middle of the 20th century, Africa still consisted for the most part from the colonies, and the Belgian Congo was no exception. When in 1958 Brussels again received the right to accept World Exhibition, local authorities seemed to decide to recall the experience of the predecessors and arranged another village called Congorama. Its inhabitants, unlike the Congoles at the beginning of the century, arrived in Belgium voluntarily - only 598 people (273 men, 128 women and 197 children). Their main occupation was a demonstration of folk crafts.

Nevertheless, everything went wrong as the Africans imagined. According to Stamambala, a historian from the Belgian Royal Museum of Central Africa, instead of cultural exchange, the guests found themselves behind a bamboo fence, and some of the Europeans who surrounded them made monkeys to attract attention. “They threw bananas and peanuts, and the Congolezers protested against this. They wanted them to be respected, and not be considered animals in the zoo, ”says etambala, who grew up in Belgium and Congo. In total, the Congolens were supposed to spend six months in the European country, but after about three months they had patience and residents of the colony left. The exhibition continued without an ethnic group.

In 2018, this is not the most honorable page in the history of the country Turned Belgian television. In the report, in addition to video frames, they showed the very photograph taken at the exhibition, in which the crowd examines the African girl. It is noteworthy that in general, the world exhibition, according to historians, accelerated the decolonization of Africa: many future leaders of national movements on the continent, such as Congolesan Patrice Lumumba, discovered another world, met each other and discussed the future of their territories. For one 1960 on the African map appeared 17 new sovereign states.

Nevertheless, only in 2020, the Belgian king Philip expressed regret Regarding the “based on exploitation and dominance” of the colonial policy that his country led for decades. “This regime was a regime of unequal relations, unjustified, noted by paternalism, discrimination and racism,” the monarch said. At the same time, there was no official apology as of 2023.

As for the second photo, with a boy in a cage, his story is different. In the 20th century, Belgian children could not buy another child - slavery in the country was prohibited first Constitution 1831, then joining General Act on the fight against the slave trade. The photo is clearly not shot in the human zoo - in the background dresses are dried, presumably, the girls themselves, that is, everything happens in private possession. In addition, vegetation against the background looks exotic, unlike the Flora of Belgium.

The photo can be found on site The Center for Historical Research and Documentation on War and Modern Society under the State Archive of Belgium in the album, entitled “The collection of Monsieur Van de Mersesh. Belgian Congo (1950–1960). " In fact, nothing more about this picture to specialists Not known - Neither the exact year, nor the location, only the fact that it was taken from the album of the family living in the territory of the current Democratic Republic of the Congo more than half a century ago. In 2020 a photograph Used For the cover of a photo album called “White-Church in black and white” dedicated to the Belgian Congo, but even more often it Exhibited In social networks with incorrect or unproven signatures like stories about the human zoo or even illustrating the publications about French colonies in North Africa. Found on the network and Colorized Family option. He has nothing to do with the 1958 exhibition in Brussels.

Nevertheless, the first photograph and signature under it as a whole adequately describe the situation that developed in 1958 at the World Exhibition in Brussels. Indeed, the ethnic village of Congolese artisans, both because of the segregation and because of the behavior of visitors, became something like the human zoo, although it was probably not conceived in this capacity.

Photo on the cover: social networks

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