Human zoos in Europe (7 photos). Human zoos Human zoos of civilized Europe black venus

The more you study the history of European states, the more you are amazed. How did they manage to convince the whole world in a relatively short time that they have always been democratic and supposedly cared about people, rights and freedoms?

Did you know that Belgium, home to the center of "modern European democracy" in the form of the EU and NATO, was the last country in Europe to exhibit humans in zoos as living exhibits?

The Forgotten History of "Human Zoos"

( Translation from German by Konstantin Shashkov)

Did you know what could be seen in European zoos, along with monkeys, lions and other wild animals from Africa, Asia and the Americas, until 1958? The forgotten history of so-called "human zoos".

In various European cities such as Paris, Hamburg, Antwerp, Barcelona, ​​London, Milan and Warsaw, human pens were created in zoos in the late 19th century. Carl Hagenbeck sent his employees in 1876 to East Asia and Sudan to bring “wild animals and Nubians” to Germany and exhibit them in a zoo. This was liked by many visitors to zoos in Paris, London and Berlin. The 1889 Paris World's Fair was attended by 28 million people. There, among other things, it was possible to see, as a big attraction, 400 indigenous people (from the specified regions). The Exposition Universelle in 1900 was followed by colonial exhibitions in Marseille (1906 and 1922) and Paris (1907 and 1931), where naked or half-naked people were exhibited in cages. In just six months, the exhibition in Paris was visited by 34 million people.

In Germany, in 1928, the so-called “Völkerschau” (“Exhibition of Peoples”) took place, a colonial exhibition where people from different parts of the globe could be seen. In 1931, in Munich, as part of Oktoberfest (the autumn beer festival in Munich), an exhibition entitled “Black People of the South Pacific” was held. After World War II, "Human Zoos" or "ethnological exhibitions" were gradually abandoned. The German Chancellor, Adolf Hitler, was a European leader in this regard - he banned the public display of people of color back in 1940.
At the Brussels World's Fair in 1958, a Congolese village and its inhabitants were recreated, supposedly the last exhibition of its kind. And in the USA, zoos had sectors where you could look at various Indian tribes. For example, in the Cincinnati Zoo, a village with 100 Sioux Indians was recreated. Just like in Europe, millions of people visited similar exhibitions in America.

The Story of Ota Benga at the Bronx Zoo: A famous example of such a display in the United States is the African Ota Benga. In 1885, the Congolese village where Benga was born was attacked by Belgian troops. The country known as the Belgian Congo was under the brutal rule of the Belgian King Leopold II. Between 1880 and 1920, the Congo's population fell by half, from 20 to 10 million people. Most died due to the extraordinary cruelty of the occupiers. So the Belgian king ordered that the arms or hands of those who failed to reach their daily quota of production of products such as rubber or ivory be cut off. Although Benga survived the genocide, the 23-year-old man was kidnapped and sold in 1906 in South Carolina for “a pound of salt and a piece of cloth” to Christian missionary and anthropologist Samuel Philips Werner.

Benga was taken to New York and put on display at the American Museum of Natural History as a "pygmy." In reality he was a member of the Batwa people. Benga repeatedly attacked his overseers. They described him as "out of control," so he was moved to the Bronx Zoo's monkey barn. There he sat in a cage with a chimpanzee, a guinea pig, a parrot and an orangutan. Every day, up to 40,000 zoo visitors and up to 500 people at the same time contemplated the African in his monkey cage.

Customers shouted at him, kicked him through the bars, tripped him up, or threw burning cigar butts at him. The New York Times once reported that Benga feels better in his cage than anywhere in his native country. It would be absurd to moan about his “suffering.” Due to increased pressure from the black population of the United States, as well as some influential whites, Benga was released after 20 days in the zoo and was taken to Lynchburg, Virginia. There he got a job in government agencies - in hospitals and schools. Since his deportation from the Congo, Benga has suffered from severe depression and nostalgia. “Unbearable humiliation,” as he described his feelings, prompted him to go “home.” On March 20, 1916, he shot himself in the heart with a pistol.

P.S. Please remember these facts. And when liberals or our “partners” once again start talking to you about the “lack of democracy” or about “Russia is a prison of nations,” tell them how Europeans and Americans put people in zoos. In the 20th century.

Human zoos were most popular in Germany. But they were organized all over the world: in London, Paris, Warsaw, Barcelona, ​​New York and even St. Petersburg. And everywhere, zoos were a stunning success - hundreds of thousands of people came to see the outlandish exhibits. And the attendance record belongs to the “village of blacks”, which was built at the World Exhibition in Paris in 1899. About thirty million people visited it.

“Which one of them is human?”

Now in Europe and America people are obsessed with protecting the rights of people from Africa, tolerance and political correctness. In the late 19th and early 20th centuries, blacks were viewed as common animals and were often caged with monkeys. One day an epic incident occurred: Chancellor Bismarck looked for a long time at a gorilla and an African man who were kept together, and then asked: “Which of them is a man?”

Black Venus became the first exhibit of a human zoo

In general, the history of human zoos began much earlier. For example, Columbus brought Indians to Spain in order to demonstrate “outlandish animals.” Other travelers followed his example. Their logic is easy to understand; at that time in Europe, any deviation from the usual human appearance was perceived with a bang, and good money could be made from this.

A striking example is the Hottentot Saarti Bartman, who received the nickname Black Venus. She was extremely popular. The fact is that the women of her tribe had one, to put it mildly, feature - greatly enlarged buttocks and large, protruding genitals. This body structure is explained by steatopygia - a genetically determined deposition of fat on the buttocks. And among the Hottentots this is considered a sign of beauty. It is also interesting that this disease practically does not occur among representatives of the Caucasian race.

Saarthi was brought from Cape Town (South Africa) to London as a maid. But her unusual appearance could not go unnoticed. And the owner began to show her naked for money. Soon Black Venus became a real star. It is generally accepted that this is where the history of real human zoos begins.

Human zoos were most popular in Germany

When rumors of Venus reached the abolitionist organization the African Association, attempts were made to free Saarthi from slavery. True, the representatives first had to prove that she lived in London as a slave. And... it was not possible to do this. Saarti Bartman stated at the trial that she “works” of her own free will and receives money for it. And the topic has exhausted itself.

Four years later, the woman, unusual by European standards, became boring to Londoners, and the owner resold her to the Frenchman Reo, an animal trainer.

Black Venus lived in France for a little over a year - her new owner was a cruel, rude and greedy man. In addition, the French public turned out to be more demanding than the London one - there were few people willing to look at a naked woman, even with huge buttocks. People preferred caricatures of her and all sorts of ridicule. And Saarthi died. And her body went to scientists who were trying to find out “how close blacks are to monkeys.”

"King of Swindle"

The Americans did not lag behind the Europeans. A certain Phineas Taylor Barnum in the 19th century was the owner of the largest human zoo in America at that time. And then, hardly anyone could even imagine that after one and a half hundred years a black man would be at the head of their country...

Barnum, as they say, “got into the flow.” His first serious success came from showing the audience an old black woman. The cunning Barnum, nicknamed by journalists the “king of deception,” came up with a legend for her: supposedly she was the nanny of not just anyone, but George Washington himself!

Barnum exposed George Washington's black nanny

Money poured in like a river. But a year later the black woman died, and the businessman had to start over. But this time he did not limit himself to just one exhibit - Siamese twins, Lilliputians, the wolf-man Fyodor Evtishchev, representatives of African and Asian tribes, as well as a fake mermaid (he made it himself) from the island of Fiji appeared in his zoo (or circus).

Epic Exhibition

The main goal of the Exposition coloniale was considered to be a demonstration of the achievements of French colonialism. During the six months of her work, several dozen visitors from different countries managed to visit there.

The exhibition was organized on the eastern outskirts of Paris, in the Bois de Vincennes, and the main exhibits were, of course, people from Senegal. They had to show the audience their life. Therefore, especially for this purpose, the organizers erected copies of six African villages, differing from each other in architecture and way of life.

The “village of blacks” in France was visited by about 30 million people

It is interesting that the exhibition was not opened with the aim of humiliating or somehow offending the Senegalese, no. The goal is to show how France treats the people of its African colonies well.

Last…

In the 20s and 30s of the last century, human zoos in the United States began to sharply lose popularity. What's the point of paying money to see black people if the country is already full of them? Therefore, businessmen began to exhibit pygmies in cages.

Ota Benga

The most famous exhibit is Ota Benga, who was kept at the Bronx Zoological Gardens along with an orangutan and a parrot. Moreover, a sign was attached to the grille, which indicated the name, height and weight of the pygmy. And nearby there was exactly the same data about a bird and a primate.

The last exhibit was the pygmy Ota Benga

Before his American life, Ota lived in the Congo, but then was enslaved and ended up in New York. He was very popular with visitors, and black pastors during the show asked to treat him like a person. And they constantly sent letters to the management of the Zoological Garden, asking them to at least remove the orangutan from the pygmy.

But in vain. Even the press was on the side of the whites. For example, The New York Times once wrote: “The pygmies are closer to the great apes, or they may be considered as degenerate descendants of the common negro—in any case, they are of interest to ethnology.”

In the end, the pygmy got tired of this life. He made a bow and started shooting at the people who approached his cage. And Ota was released. True, he knew that his native village was destroyed, and his relatives were either killed or enslaved. Therefore, he managed to steal a revolver somewhere and shot himself...

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Human Zooswere organized in different cities. Antwerp, London, Barcelona, ​​Paris, Milan, New York, Warsaw, Hamburg and St. Petersburg - wherever there were exhibitions of people. As a rule, hundreds of thousands of visitors came to see the “outlandish” natives. But the “village of blacks” at the Paris World Exhibition of 1889 was seen by more than 28 million (!) people.

As a rule, representatives of “unusual” (in the opinion of the civilized world) nationalities were taken by force from their lands, and then demonstrated to an astonished public. Authentic settlements were often recreated, huts were built, and leaders of the tribe or community were appointed. As a rule, zoo management tried to assign roles independently, but this did not always work out, and sometimes the aborigines themselves began to “direct” their staged life.

The human exhibitions were extremely popular among the Germans. Here, of course, a significant role was played by the enthusiasm for the ideas of social Darwinism that gripped the intelligentsia in the 19th century. Bismarck and Emperor Wilhelm II visited black villages with interest.

As a rule, newly arrived zoo inhabitants were carefully studied, trying to determine their belonging to one of the “natural peoples”. To do this, measurements of the skull were taken, the shape of the nose and skin color were recorded, and the features of the tongue were studied. At the end, an official document was issued, guaranteeing the owner the authenticity of the native he had acquired.

Amazingly, visiting human zoos is not the only shocking entertainment Europeans have.The morgue was a favorite meeting place for Parisians in the 19th century. .

Tuesday, April 17, marks exactly 60 years since the opening of the World's Fair, which took place in Brussels from April 17 to October 19, 1958. Expo 1958 was the first global showcase of achievements since World War II. The main purpose of the 200-day Exhibition was to show the post-war social, cultural and technological achievements of mankind. The World's Fair, held in the Belgian capital, was to occupy "an important place in the collective memory of the Belgian people." And so it happened - the Belgians still remember Expo 1958 with pride. However, at the same time, one event happened in Brussels, which now people in the kingdom do not like to remember. It is a live exhibition of living black men, women and children whose task was to teach and entertain white Europeans. This was the last "human zoo".

At the end of the fifties of the last century, Belgium owned one, but very large colony in Africa - Congo. This extremely mineral-rich country in central Africa was 80 times larger in area than its mother country. The Belgians were extremely proud of the Congo. The government decided to hold the Expo 58 World Exhibition to show the planet not only its achievements, but also its inextricable connection with the Congo. The so-called “Congorama” was dedicated to the only colony of Belgium. This was the name of seven pavilions dedicated to different spheres of Congolese life: mining, culture, transport, agriculture. From behind a bamboo fence, visitors to the Exhibition could observe the daily life of black Congolese residents dressed in national clothes from early morning until late evening.

For the West, human zoos like this were not a novelty. They were regularly organized in London, Paris, Oslo and Hamburg. In New York in 1906, at the Bronx Zoo, a young Congolese was even added to the monkeys’ enclosure for the amusement of the public.

In the summer of 1897, King Leopold II of Belgium brought 267 Congolese to Brussels. That year the World Exhibition was also held in Belgium. For her, in the capital suburb of Tervuren, a Colonial Palace was built with ponds and lakes on which Africans sailed in boats. The African exposition became the most popular. At least for the Belgians. Of the four million inhabitants of the kingdom, every third person visited it - 1.3 million people.

The summer of 1897 was very cold. Pneumonia and influenza then killed seven Africans who were buried in an unmarked grave in one of the city cemeteries.

The popularity of the African exposition turned out to be so high that it was decided to hold it permanently in the same place. Originally called the Congo Museum, it was later renamed the Royal Museum of Central Africa.

The 1958 exhibition was inferior in scale to the African Museum, but it was no different from it in content. A traditional Congolese village was built for the dark-skinned exhibits. Africans practiced folk crafts and lived daily lives in thatched huts. White men, women and children crowded around the fence. They laughed and mocked the Congolese, and the cheekiest ones threw money and bananas over the fence.

Belgian newspapers in the summer of 1958 were full of articles about “blacks in the zoo.” 598 people were brought to the human zoo: 273 men, 128 women and 197 children, for a total of 183 families. The Belgian Colonial Office was very worried that such an unprecedented number of Africans had to be brought to Brussels. The Congolese lived in a special building outside the Expo. They were taken to the exhibition by bus every day, just like to work.

By July, the patience and strength of the Congolese artisans had run out, and they began to demand that they be returned to their homeland. Despite the closure of the human zoo, the Exhibition continued to operate. In January 1959, Congo gained independence.

The interpretation is changing. But how?

On December 1, after a five-year restoration that cost the treasury 75 million euros, the Royal Museum of Central Africa will open its doors to visitors. The area of ​​the renovated Museum will be twice as large and reach 11 thousand m².

In 2001, when the Museum of Africa was headed by Guido Grisils, the permanent exhibition remained almost the same as in the 20s of the last century. In almost every room one could find the royal monograms: the double letters “L”. Statements and quotes from the monarchs celebrated the high moral achievements of the colonial period and talked about how the Belgians brought light to the Congo, where darkness reigned before their arrival.

For most Belgians, according to Grisils, their first encounter with Africa began at this Royal Museum of Central Africa. Here they were successfully instilled with the idea of ​​​​the superiority of white people over black people. Suffice it to say that Africans were most often depicted naked and armed with spears. It was argued that before the arrival of Europeans they were an extremely backward people who did not even have their own culture.

This fictional “reality” turned out to be very tenacious because Belgian society, although it did not want to admit it to itself, actually did not want to rethink the colonial past. Belgium is a small country. It is not surprising that in every Belgian family someone at one time or another worked or lived in the Congo as a missionary, teacher or official. It is not surprising that understanding relations with the Congo is extremely painful for the Belgians.

Discussions about the colonial past began in the kingdom only in 1998, after the publication of Adam Hochchild's book The Spirit of King Leopold. By that time, the old traditional interpretation of the colonial period remained in school textbooks: “we brought civilization to the Congo.”

The process of rethinking is going slowly. Now in Belgium there are many people demanding the closure or at least “decolonization” of the Royal Museum, but director Grisils believes that he has a lot of serious educational work ahead of him - to tell his compatriots the truth about Belgium’s role in the Congo.

At the opening ceremony of the Royal Museum of Central Africa, in the presence of the royal family, the Belgian foreign minister is expected to give a new interpretation of the century-old colonial period.

“We are responsible for creating the idea that Belgians are superior to black people,” Guido Grisils explains his task. - But that is changing. True, these changes will take some time.”

Many people have mixed feelings about zoos. On the one hand, you can see your favorite animals up close, but on the other hand, they live in captivity, and this is bad. However, overall the zoo is a pleasant place. A place where animals live.

But isn't a zoo with animals the only type of zoo? Unfortunately, until recently, human zoos were very common. People were kept in captivity, exhibited to the public for entertainment, and other people paid to see them.

Below you will see photo evidence of the existence of these terrible places.

1. These Selk'nam aborigines were exhibited in a human zoo during a "tour" in Europe.

Carl Hagenbeck is often credited with creating animal zoos as we know them today. He created more natural enclosures for animals, closer to their own habitat.

However, a lesser known fact about him is that he was also the first person to "show" his own kind and create a human zoo.

In 1889, with the permission of the Chilean government, he took with him 11 people of the Selk'nam tribe, put them in cages and took them to show them all over Europe. Later, people from other related tribes suffered the same fate.

2. This African girl was exhibited at the human zoo in Brussels, Belgium in 1958.

This photograph has become a symbol of the terrible phenomenon of human zoos: a little African girl in a "white" dress. She is fed by the hand of a woman from the crowd of visitors. There is a fence between them.

Fortunately, the “exhibition” did not last long, because interest in it soon disappeared due to the advent of cinema. People could now satisfy their curiosity about foreign countries through films.

Moreover, by the time the exhibition began in Brussels, the concept of a “human zoo” was considered disgusting by the world community, and in most countries it was prohibited.

But unfortunately, changes did not affect the residents of this zoo so quickly. Most of the 297 people died and were buried in a mass, unmarked grave.

3. Ota Benga, a Congolese pygmy, was shown at the Bronx Zoo in New York in 1906. He was forced to carry orangutans and other monkeys in his arms during “shows”.

"Age 23 years old, 4' 11" tall, 103 lbs. Brought by Samul Werner from the Kasai River region, Congo Free State, South Central Africa. On display every day through September."

This was the inscription near Ota's "house", where he entertained spectators by shooting at targets with a bow and arrow and making funny faces. He was sure that he was going to work at the zoo to take care of the elephant.

He also performed various tricks on orangutans and other apes to amuse as many people as possible, of whom a great many came to see this interesting specimen at the zoo.

However, this case drew criticism from several states, which led to the withdrawal of the “exhibit”.

His teeth were pointed downwards, according to the tradition of his tribe, and the floor of his dwelling - a cage - was strewn with bones. The organizers did this to make him look intimidating.

He played the role of a savage and was even kept in a cage with monkeys for some time, this was supported by the anthropologist Madison Grant, later secretary of the New York Zoological Society and future eminent evangelist.

The New York Times announced the exhibition with the headline: "Bushman Shares Cage with Bronx Monkeys."

In the article itself, Ota was referred to as a Bushman (a collective name for several indigenous African hunter-gatherer peoples). Scientists in those days rated the Bushmen very low in terms of importance.

The public came out in droves. Often up to 500 people at a time, and at the height of the exhibition people came in the thousands.

However, the issue was causing increasing concern. A number of prominent pastors have spoken openly about how this is a terrible disrespect. Reverend James H. Gordon, director of the Brooklyn Orphanage, was one of the exhibition's most vocal opponents.

Benga was eventually released. After leaving the zoo, the man returned to Africa, but no longer feeling like he belonged to that world, he soon returned to the United States. However, even here he was unable to find peace of mind, which led him to commit suicide in 1916 with a shot in the heart.

4. Human zoo in Paris Jardin d'Agronomie Tropicale

In their grandiose but morally twisted quest to exert power, the French, also for the purpose of demonstrating their colonial power, built six villages that represented the French colonies at the time (Madagascar, Indochina, Sudan, Congo, Tunisia and Morocco). The exhibition lasted from May to October 1907.

During the six-month exhibition, more than one million people gathered to see the colonial power of the French. The villages were designed to reflect colonial life in reality, from architecture to agricultural practices.

Pictured above is a Congolese "factory" built in Marseille to represent colonial life. In this regard, several people were brought from the Congo to “work” in this factory.

What then attracted countless people is now abandoned and ignored, a historical stain that France has too quickly forgotten. Since 2006, although the grounds and pavilions of the human zoo have become accessible to the general public, few have actually visited them.

5. Sarah Baartman, a girl who embodied all the inhumanity of such a phenomenon as human zoos.

In 1810, 20-year-old Sarah Baartman was hired as an exotic animal dealer. With promises of wealth and fame, Sarah went to London with him. There began something that was very far from what was promised.

Sarah naturally had large, protruding buttocks and an unusually shaped genitalia, so she became the subject of much speculation and an excellent exhibition piece.

She was dressed in tight clothes and presented as a “novelty”, as “something exotic”. She died in poverty, and her skeleton, brain and genitals were exhibited at the Museum of Humanity in Paris until 1974. In 2002, at the request of President Nelson Mandela, her remains were repatriated.

6. "Village of blacks" in Germany. Mother and child.

At the World Fair in Paris in 1878 and 1889, a “village of blacks” was presented. It was visited by about 28 million people, and during the world's fair in 1889, representatives of 400 indigenous tribes were the main "attraction".

The idea of ​​such a village took root best in Germany, where the theories of Social Darwinism were widespread and accepted by many people. Otto von Bismarck even visited the exhibition.

7. Several representatives of indigenous peoples, as well as African and Asian races, were very often kept in cages and displayed in makeshift natural habitats.

8. Paris World Fair, 1931.

The 1931 exhibition in Paris was so successful that 34 million people visited it within six months.

A smaller counter-exhibition, “The Truth about the Colonies,” organized by the Communist Party, attracted far fewer people.

9. People visiting zoos at world's fairs were entertained by groups of pygmies who were ordered to dance.

10. In 1881, five Indians of the Cavescar tribe (Terra del Fuego, Chile) were kidnapped and transported to Europe to become exhibits in a human zoo. They all died a year later.

11. Here, indigenous people take part in archery at the Savage Olympics exhibition, organized in 1904.

Organized by white Americans, the Savage Olympics were attended by indigenous people of various tribes from different parts of the world, such as Africa, South America, the Middle East and Japan.

12. One of the first public exhibitions of man was the exhibition of B. P. Barnum.

He made an exhibit of Joyce Heth (1756 – 1836). She was an African American slave. In 1835, towards the end of her life, the woman was blind and almost completely paralyzed (she could speak and move her right hand).

That's when Barnum bought it. He began his "career" by displaying a dying woman and claiming that she was George Washington's 160-year-old nurse. A year later she died at the age of 80.

Even today there are echoes of human zoos. The reclusive Harava tribe lives on the Andaman Island in India. The video, which surfaced in 2012, showed one of the safari trips on this island in the beautiful Bay of Bengal, which has recently become a popular tourist destination.

But during the safari, people were shown not only animals; tourists were initially promised the opportunity to observe the life of members of the Harawa tribe in their natural habitat.

However, in reality, apparently, everything is not so simple, because in that video the islanders danced specifically for tourists.

These indigenous peoples were just beginning to make contact with the continents, and their willingness to interact with the outside world was very quickly taken up and resulted in some groups today being no better than the human zoos of the past.

At the entrance to the “reserve” there was a sign prohibiting interaction and feeding of the tribal residents, but tourists, hundreds of them visiting it every day, always came with fruits and nuts.

The "reserve" has police officers who are supposed to protect the tribal people from contact, however, in one video the "protector" was clearly seen instructing naked tribal women how to dance as food was thrown at them. Unfortunately, throwing food in anticipation of contact is actually a routine activity and not an exception to the rule.

The government demanded that all this action be stopped, and in 2013 the Supreme Court of India completely banned such safaris. However, some activist groups claim that the service continues to be provided to tourists in secret.

In 2014 in Oslo, as part of the celebrations for the 200th anniversary of the country's constitution, two artists decided to stage a recreation of Congo Village, a famous 1914 exhibition in Norway held a century earlier.

Then, a hundred years ago, the exhibition featured 80 Senegalese in an authentic environment.

One hundred years later, Mohamed Ali Fadlabi and Lars Cuzner recreated the exhibition. They called it European Attraction Limited and tried to explore what they saw as Norway's colonial and racial amnesia, as well as start a conversation about the legacy of colonialism.

People of all nationalities from all over the world were invited to relax in this post-modern zoo.

However, the reaction was not what the artists expected. Many critics said the exposition simply reaffirmed and rewrote the world's racist and colonial beliefs. They denied that there was any artistic value in repeating such a dehumanizing spectacle, especially in a world that had not yet fully recovered from racism.