Here are 25 Facts About Cruel Dictators – Part 2. We haven’t included Adolf Hitler in the list because we have an entire list dedicated to him separately. For part 1, click here.
1-5 Facts About Cruel Dictators
1. Fidel Castro recommended to the Kremlin a harder line against Washington, even suggesting the possibility of nuclear strikes. The pressure stopped after Soviet officials gave Castro a briefing on the ecological impact on Cuba of nuclear strikes on the United States. – Source
2. Marita Lorenz, ex-lover of Fidel Castro had agreed to aid the CIA and attempted to smuggle a jar of cold cream containing poison pills into Fidel Castro’s room. When Castro learned about her intentions, he reportedly gave her a gun and told her to kill him but her nerve failed. – Source
3. In 2012, a 14-year old North Korean girl drowned while trying to save portraits of dictator Kim Il-Sung and Kim Jong-Il. The government renamed her school after her. – Source
4. Kim Il Sung, founder and dictator of North Korea, had a baseball-sized growth on his neck. It was benign but could not be removed due to its location. Official photos of the “Eternal President” were therefore taken from a leftward angle to hide the growth. – Source
5. Doctors induced labor to make sure the Kim Jong Un’s child was born in 2012, which marked the 100th anniversary of North Korean founder Kim Il-sung. – Source
6-10 Facts About Cruel Dictators
6. When the KGB tried to blackmail Indonesian President Achmed Sukarno with videotapes of the president having sex with Russian women disguised as flight attendants, Sukarno wasn’t upset. He was pleased. He even asked for more copies of the video to show back in his country. – Source
7. In 1958, Chinese dictator Mao Zedong ordered the people of China to kill sparrows because they steal grain. Since sparrows also eat insects, their absence caused a locust epidemic that ravaged crops and killed millions of people. – Source
8. In 1973, Mao Zedong told Henry Kissinger China had a surplus of women and offered USA 10 million Chinese women. – Source
9. President Suharto of Indonesia is considered the world’s most corrupt former head of state, embezzling between $15-$35 billion. – Source
10. A few of Cambodia’s Khmer Rouge soldiers were found hiding in jungle as recent as 2005, completely unaware that dictator Pol Pot died and Vietnamese troops no longer occupied the country. – Source
11-15 Facts About Cruel Dictators
11. Of the 17,000 Cambodian people imprisoned at Pol Pot’s notorious S-21 prison, only 7 survived. The rest were tortured and exterminated. – Source
12. As a result of starvation under Pol Pot, Cambodians began to hunt and eat Tarantulas in the country side for sustenance, a practice that has since become a specialty snack and popular treat for tourists. – Source
13. Kim Jong-Il’s personal sushi chef escaped from North Korea in 2001 by telling them he wanted to buy a sea urchin to cook for him. He subsequently wrote a memoir about his experiences with Kim Jong-Il. – Source
14. Kim Jong-Il’s eldest son, Kim Jong-nam, was widely consider to be the heir to the title of Supreme Leader of North Korea until he attempted to enter Japan with a fake passport so that he could go to Disneyland. – Source
15. Vladimir Lenin’s embalmed body is bathed and dressed in new clothes every year. His tomb is in the center of Moscow open to public, despite his death wish to be buried next to his wife – Source
16-20 Facts About Cruel Dictators
16. Turkish dictator Mustafa Kemal Atatürk, who is considered to be the “Father of the Turks”, personally ordered and supervised the massacre/genocide of tens of thousands of Kurdish civilians between 1937-1938, just a year before he died. – Source
17. In Soviet Russia, prisoners would get tattoos of Lenin & Stalin, because guards weren’t allowed to shoot at images of national leaders. – Source
18. After being shot, kicked, and spat upon, the bodies of Italian dictator Benito Mussolini and his mistress were hung upside down on meathooks from the roof of an Esso gas station. The bodies were then stoned by civilians from below. – Source
19. Benito Mussolini used to offer £1,271 to couples willing to name their child “Benito.” Plus, when any family relocated to the sunny Mediterranean, the Italian government gave them £835, in addition to the £1,271 fascist bribe, because not enough Italians were getting pregnant. – Source
20. Joseph Stalin’s son shot himself because of Stalin’s harshness toward him, but survived. After this, Stalin said, “He can’t even shoot straight.” – Source
21-25 Facts About Cruel Dictators
21. World War II was not the end of Fascist dictatorships in Europe. The fascist dictator, Francisco Franco, ruled Spain until 1975, and personally signed death warrants until months before his death. – Source
22. Francisco Franco ordered many of the same deadly xenophobic/religious “solutions” as Hitler and Mussolini (and was asked to join the Axis during WW2), but managed to remain neutral enough that Richard Nixon memorialized him as: “loyal friend and ally of the United States.” – Source
23. Stalin personally arranged several assassination attempts on Yugoslavian dictator Josip Broz Tito, none of which succeeded. In a correspondence between the two leaders, Tito openly wrote: “Stop sending people to kill me. We’ve already captured five of them, one of them with a bomb and another with a rifle (…) If you don’t stop sending killers, I’ll send one to Moscow, and I won’t have to send a second.” – Source
24. The country of Albania constructed over 700,000 concrete bunkers while under the reign of Communist dictator Enver Hoxha, resulting in 1 bunker for every four citizens. Today they are used as homeless shelters and makeout spots for teens. – Source
25. In 1989, Romanian dictator Nicolae Ceauşescu banned the board game scrabble deeming it “too intellectual.” – Source
