A man looks at his five-year-old daughter's hands, cut off as punishment for a poorly done job collecting rubber. In 1885-1908, the Congo was the personal possession of King Leopold II of Belgium, during which years a brutal regime with a private army and labor service flourished in the country. Often, in order to force local residents to work, the colony authorities took women and children hostage and held them under arrest throughout the rubber harvest season.
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