The recent film Oppenheimer is guilty of one crucial omission: the involvement of people of the Congo in the development of the atomic bomb.
As is well known, the Congolese were forced to harvest rubber after the country was made the private estate of King Leopold of Belgium. They were subjected to amputations if they failed to meet their quotas, as well as other horrific punishments. I talked about this history here.
What is probably less known is that the Congolese were also used to mine the uranium which Oppenheimer used to create the first atomic bombs. The highest quality uranium in the world came from Congo. This was a top-secret operations in which the workers were exploited.
As the author says, "I kept seeing what was missing: Black miners hauling earth and stone to sort piles of radioactive ore by hand". Go here to read more.
Go here for more African history blog posts.
Were you aware of the role Congo played in the creation of the atomic first bomb? Please comment below, and please share this with your networks. Thanks.
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