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or you can get all of History Daily plus other fantastic history podcasts at into History.com. It's October 10th, 1996 in a remote village in the Congo Free State in Central Africa.

A young man walked through the forest on the outskirts of the village,

examining thick vines that encircle the tree trunks. Like almost everyone else who lives here,

the young man is a rubber farmer. It's his job to harvest the vines and

collect the natural latex that drips out of them. It's hard work, especially given the near

impossible production quotas imposed by the government.

The young man is distracted from work by sudden shouting.

Ducking behind a tree, he pierced through the thick forest and spots a group of uniformed men with rifles. The rubber farmer's heart

sinks. It's the Faz Publique, mercenaries employed by the government who are renowned

for their violence and cruelty. The rubber farmer thinks the armed men

haven't seen him but he didn't dash away quick enough. A bullet ricochets off the

tree the farmer is hiding behind. A voice calls out through the forest telling him to surrender.

Young man has difficult choice to make. Either he flees and risks being hunted down by

angry soldiers or he gives himself up and hopes the men spare him.

He chooses to surrender and steps out from behind the tree with his hands up.

The mercenaries don't shoot.

But instead, one of the men snapped shackles around the farmer's wrists and drags him through the undergrowth to a group of other trembling prisoners.

On the ground beside them is a body covered in blood. The

rubber farmer recognizes him at once. It's his neighbor. Standing over the

...