Asian bamboo torture or European stake torture, which is worse.

Bamboo is one of the fastest growing representatives of the flora. Once upon a time, this property of bamboo was used for torture and execution of criminals.

How fast does bamboo grow?

There are many types of bamboo in the world. Individual specimens of this grass can grow more than 35 meters. This gigantic height is largely due to the growth rate of this plant. On average, in just one day, depending on the variety, bamboo gains from 50 to 100 centimeters.

A unique record was set in one of the Japanese laboratories. In 24 hours, the Madake bamboo stem increased by 120 centimeters. And in Vietnam there is bamboo, which can grow 2 meters in the same time. By the way, the Japanese claim that if you look at bamboo thickets for a long time, you can easily see how the stems grow.

In addition, according to experts, bamboo easily grows through a thick layer of asphalt or concrete. People noticed these properties of bamboo a long time ago and immediately found use for them.

Bamboo execution

In Asian countries, particularly China, bamboo was used to execute and torture criminals. To do this, the ground was sown in advance with bamboo seeds or a site was selected where bamboo was just emerging from the ground. A person was placed over the garden bed horizontal position, most often face up. The main thing was to firmly fix the body in order to limit the victim’s movements as much as possible.

The quickly growing bamboo stems first pierced the skin of the convict, and then gradually penetrated inside the body, damaging vital important organs. As they grew, the shoots pierced the body deeper and deeper until they came out with reverse side. Despite the rapid growth of the plant, the convict suffered for more than 12 hours until death relieved him of his suffering.

Sometimes young bamboo shoots were sharpened with a knife so that they penetrate the body faster. However, sometimes they were left in their original form. In this case, death turned out to be more painful.

Truth or myth?

In fact reliable information whether the bamboo execution actually existed has not yet been discovered. However, some historians are absolutely sure that such a practice took place. And not only in ancient China. According to eyewitnesses, the Japanese used bamboo to torture prisoners during the World War.

In addition, the hosts of one popular American television show conducted an experiment, recreating all the conditions of a bamboo execution. They used a jelly-like mass as a sacrifice, which they placed over a bamboo shoot. The experiment ended successfully: the bamboo stem easily pierced the body of the jelly mannequin and penetrated deep inside.

From 03/25/2017, 01:18

The story I am sharing here is real. It occurred in the 30s of the twentieth century in Turkestan. Previously, I posted it on some sites, where the admins corrected it a little to their liking. The fact is that they reproached me for being too bloodthirsty. But what to do, real life is somewhat different from the one that the authors of fictional stories portray in their stories, and the real Basmachi of Turkestan were very, very different from those naive and stupid farmers whom we are used to seeing in Eastern films from the times of the USSR. I’m posting it here in draft form, because I remember it.

Recently, I was sorting through my notes, which were left over from those distant times when, after finishing 8th grade, I went to medical school. In one of the notebooks I came across quite interesting notes. In them I described a story that I heard from my grandfather, an old employee of the Cheka-NKVD. At that time he served in Turkestan where he fought the Basmachi. This story interested me and, after taking quick notes, I turned to the teacher who taught surgery with us with a request to comment on it. Which is what she did, it turns out that she also heard about this when she was studying herself, along the way she talked about several similar cases.

Thinking that it would be interesting to read for all those who are interested in similar topics, I posted this story on several sites. And then, fearing plagiarism, as has happened more than once, I decided to post it on this site. I warn you in advance - despite the fact that everything stated is true, do not even think about using what is described in the article on yourself or anyone else. The outcome can be fatal.

I heard this story from my grandfather, he served in the Cheka-NKVD and fought the Basmachi in Turkestan. He told me this story and let me look at some of his notes specifically on this case, around the end of the 70s, when he was already well under the influence. Apparently, the vodka loosened his tongue, because before that he didn’t particularly talk about his exploits, and there were quite a few of them, which I learned after his death. By certain reasons I will not indicate the name of the village where this happened, but I think that this is not so important.

This incident occurred in the early 30s, when the main forces of the Basmachi were liquidated, but individual detachments still continued to fight, carrying out local terror and killing individual representatives of the Soviet government, mainly teachers or doctors.

They decided to open a hospital in this village. We found a suitable building, brought equipment and soon a female doctor, Susanna Matveevna, arrived. At that time she was already about 60, short, very fat, but she, according to her grandfather, was still very energetic, despite her age and very heavy weight. She quickly restored order and after some time this hospital became known throughout the area.

In addition to Susanna Matveevna, there were three more nurses. It is necessary to note one more thing - the hospital stood on the outskirts of the village and Susanna Matveevna lived next to it with a lonely elderly woman named Zukhra. Zukhra sometimes helped in the hospital, performing unskilled work: washing floors, whitewashing walls, doing laundry, etc. The rest of the personnel lived in the center of the village in a dormitory, which was guarded by Red Army soldiers. Susanna Matveevna refused insistent requests to go to the dormitory, citing the fact that it was difficult for her to walk far, and so she could come there at any time if necessary.

Several months passed like this. There were no signs of trouble. And then one summer, Susanna Matveevna did not go to work in the morning. They waited for her for several hours, and then the nurses went to Zukhra’s house. They knocked and no one opened it. They walked around the house and saw that washed clothes were lying on the ground, and the horsehair ropes on which they were hung had been cut off at the very posts. This seemed strange to them and for some reason made them wary. Since the door was not locked, they went into the house and saw a bundle of blankets tied with ropes on the floor in the room. He tossed and turned and made guttural sounds. The women untied the ropes, unwound the blankets and saw Aunt Zukhra, as they called her. She was tied hand and foot with a hair rope, and her face from her chin to her eyes was tightly tied with a thin towel; when it was removed, it turned out that her mouth was stuffed with some kind of rag. Her stomach was monstrously swollen. The women untied her and pulled out a rag plug from her mouth, which turned out to be women's thin silk pantaloons. And then she began to vomit violently and belch. In between attacks, she pointed somewhere down her abdomen and said, “There.” At first the nurses could not understand what was happening to her, but then they figured out to untie the strings of her trousers and lower them. After which they saw that Zukhra’s buttocks were tightly tied with a rawhide belt. The women untied him and saw that Zukhra was trying to push, and something was peeking out of her anus as she pushed. They lifted Zukhra and sat her on a bucket. One of the nurses, contrived, managed to grab something with her fingers and carefully pulled it towards herself. Gradually, a large silk scarf pulled out and immediately a stream of foamy liquid and liquid feces gushed out of Zukhra’s intestines with great force. They came out great amount- the bucket was filled with them almost to the top. The vomiting also finally stopped.

Having emptied and caught her breath, Aunt Zukhra said that at night several Basmachi burst into their house, tied them up, gagged their mouths so quickly that they didn’t even have time to utter a word; for this they used clotheslines and Susanna Matveevna’s underwear (knickers), which she washed hung it up in the evening (gags were made from it) and began to decide what to do with the captives. They decided to take Susanna Matveevna with them, and they wanted to hang Zukhra on a beam for helping the “infidels.” Suddenly one of the Basmachi remembered that he had seen a wineskin with kumis hanging on a tree, which Zukhra had hung up at night so that it would not wander too much, since it was quite cool outside. Seeing this wineskin, the Basmachi decided to subject Zukhra to the ancient torture with kumis. They threw a hair rope over the beam of the house and, tying Zukhra by the ankles, hung her upside down, then, untying the strings of her trousers, pulled them off, exposing her. Having searched the house, the Basmachi found a large leather funnel with a spout made from a sawed-off bull horn and tried to insert it into Zukhra’s anus. But the woman squeezed her buttocks and did not allow her to do this. Then the Basmachi generously smeared the horn tip with fat tail fat and, stretching Zukhra’s buttocks, pressed the nose of the funnel deeply into her rectum. Two people held Zukhra, who was writhing with her whole body. One of the Basmachi held the funnel, and another poured kumiss from a wineskin into Zukhra. Susanna Matveevna, all red from the strain, moaned and mumbled, rolling on the floor, trying to free herself from the bonds. When the waterskin was empty (there was about a bucket of kumiss), the funnel was pulled out of Zukhra’s intestines and a large silk scarf was pushed into the anus. Then they tied the buttocks tightly with a rawhide belt. Then they pulled the bloomers back on and tied the strings tightly around the woman's swollen belly. Having loosened the rope, Zukhra was lowered onto the felts. After which the Basmachi stuffed Susanna Matveevna, who was resisting with all her might, into a large leather bag and took her with them, and they wrapped her in blankets and, tied with a rope, threw her on felts, and began to roll the resulting bale on the floor so that the kumiss, shaking, would ferment as quickly as possible. Severe pain began, Zukhra lost consciousness and did not hear when the Basmachi galloped away. She came to her senses shortly before she was released. From terrible pain in her stomach she rocked on the floor and moaned, these were the sounds that the nurses who entered heard.

Everything became clear, they immediately sent a courier with a dispatch and by the evening next day a hundred fighters led by his grandfather, although he was not yet a grandfather then, but the dashing Fedot Ivanovich, burst into the village.

The next morning they set out to search. It was clear that Susanna Matveevna was probably no longer alive, but the gang had to be found and eliminated. They rode across the steppe all day, but found nothing.

The second day of searching was also fruitless. It was not difficult to hide in the foothills, knowing the terrain. On the third day, going out to search, someone noticed that on the opposite side of their route, scavengers were hovering in the sky above the steppe, that’s what my grandfather called them, I don’t know what their scientific name is. Just in case, we decided to go there. We galloped and a few hours later saw the corpse of a camel. We came closer and were horrified. Grandfather said that this picture had been his nightmare for a long time.

There was a camel lying on the ground. They stabbed him and, throwing out his entrails, emptied his stomach. The stomach was sewn up with dried tendon, and a completely naked head stuck out of his anus as if from a bag. The fighters drove closer and saw that the head of the man sewn inside the camel was wearing bladder with a hole for the nose so that a person can breathe. The bubble shriveled from the sun and tightly clung to the head like a second skin.

The Red Army soldiers realized that Susanna Matveevna was in front of them. They instantly ripped open the camel's belly and pulled her out. When they pulled it out, they saw that she was tied hand and foot with thin rawhide straps. They quickly cut them and began to soak the dried bladder with water. Susanna Matveevna was still warm, but she was no longer breathing. She apparently died less than an hour ago. The bubble could not be removed. Seeing that there was no way to help her, the grandfather decided to wrap her body in a blanket and take her to the village to perform an autopsy to establish the cause of death.

I remember he still struck her bloated belly. The decomposition should not have come so quickly, he said, but the stomach was simply huge, despite its natural fullness. It resembled a tightly inflated ball.

A few hours later we arrived in the village. And he, without waiting for the morning, gathered all the medical staff and military paramedics and ordered an autopsy to be performed. First of all, we steamed and pulled the bubble from the head. And they saw that Susanna Matveevna’s head was absolutely smoothly shaved, even her eyebrows were shaved and oiled, this was done to make it easier to tighten the bubble. Her face was bluish color, her eyes were bulging out of their sockets and her whole face was distorted by a mask of incredible suffering. Next, from her mouth they took out a thin rag tightly stuffed there like a wad, for some reason emitting a strong fecal smell - when they unwrapped it, it turned out, according to the embroidered marks, that these were her French silk pantaloons (I quote as I remembered from my grandfather’s notes), they turned out to be thoroughly saturated with liquid fecal matter . And then something happened that the doctors started to run away with horror and screaming. The grandfather jumped up and said that he almost soiled his pants, of course he didn’t put it that way, a snake’s head appeared from the deceased woman’s mouth and a long snake began to slowly crawl out. The grandfather was not taken aback, pulled out a revolver and killed the snake with several shots.

Upon examination, it turned out to be a runner about 2 meters long, the mouth of which was tightly sewn up with horsehair. A further autopsy showed that Susanna Matveevna had abrasions in the anus, the ampulla of the rectum was tightly packed with oiled cotton, and the intestines were completely empty and distended with air. It was clear that she had undergone some kind of painful torture, but no one knew what kind.

Everything became clear a few days later, when the Red Army soldiers tracked down and destroyed a gang of Basmachi. Having surrendered, they made excuses and blamed one another, asking to spare their lives.

According to their story, everything happened as follows. The gang leader ordered a terrorist attack to intimidate the local population. Therefore, the Basmachi decided to kill the Russians who were building " new life"To do this, they decided to attack the hospital. Their choice fell on Susanna Matveevna, since it was much more difficult to capture other staff. It was not difficult to capture her, who lived in lonely Zukhra. Therefore, at night, four people secretly approached Zukhra’s hut. Having come across lines with laundry hanging on them, they cut them off and took the pantaloons hanging on them to use them as gags. Using a knife, they threw back the hook of the door. They went inside and attacked the sleeping women. It was a matter of one minute to gag and tie them up. . The women did not have time to make a sound. Then they put Susanna Matveevna into a previously prepared leather bag, and Zukhra, into whom they had poured a bucket of kumiss, they wrapped her in cotton blankets and, tying them with ropes, threw them on the floor. Having pulled the bag out into the street, they threw it over the back of the horse and galloped away.

Having brought their captive to their camp, they shook her out of the bag and began to decide what to do with her. It was decided to subject her to the shameful snake execution. To do this, they tore off her nightgown, took the gag out of her mouth, and tried to give her castor bean oil. At first, the Basmachi used an ordinary mug. But Susanna Matveevna turned her head, clenched her jaw, and spat out the liquid. Then they plugged her nose with cotton and inserted a holed bull's horn into her mouth and, throwing her head back, poured a mug of castor bean oil into it - Castor oil- a strong laxative is also used to treat the skin. Since her nose was plugged and it was impossible to breathe, she had to swallow the liquid that was poured into her mouth. After that, they untied the strings of her pantaloons and pulled them down. They tore a large piece of fabric from her nightgown, stuffed it into her anus, and then put her knickers back on. Then they stuffed her mouth tightly with cotton, bandaged her face with a piece of a nightgown and put her back into a large leather bag, tying it around her neck so that her head remained outside and left her alone in the yurt.

After some time, the oil took effect and she began to have severe diarrhea. Since the rectum was plugged and feces could not come out, she experienced severe pain. She strained and moaned in pain. Finally, under the pressure of feces and strain, the tampon popped out and she managed to relieve herself.

All this time they did not bother her, only sometimes one of the Basmachi gave her water to drink after removing the gag, so that she would not die prematurely from dehydration. A day and a half later it was night in the yard, they took her out into the street and, taking her out of the bag, pulled off her trousers, soaked in liquid feces and poured several buckets of water on her. They threw the dirty trousers into a bucket of water. Then they threw her down on a felt mat and several Basmachi pressed her so that she could not even move, then one of the Basmachi soaped her head and, taking a razor, and while they held her, shaved off all the hair on her body, after which they tied her hands behind her with a wet with a rawhide belt, after which they lifted her and, bending her over, spread her buttocks and inserted a large copper funnel into her anus. Then two Basmachi approached and brought a small cauldron and a bag in which something was moving. Having untied the bag, they pulled out a large snake from there and one of the Basmachi, pressing its head with a piece of felt, sewed up the snake’s mouth with horsehair. After that, the snake was thrown into a cauldron and Susanna Matveevna was forcibly placed on it so that the snake was covered with a funnel. Then they brought a pile of coals from the fire on a sheet of iron and poured it behind the cauldron. And they began to inflate them with small blacksmith bellows.

Two basmachi held Susanna Matveevna by the shoulders, and two others by the legs. After a few minutes, the cauldron heated up and the snake began to thrash around inside, having no other way out, the snake climbed through the neck of the funnel into Susanna Matveevna’s intestines. Since the snake was about 5 cm thick, the pain was very strong. Susanna Matveevna strained with all her might and, spitting out the gag that was gagged in her mouth, screamed in pain. But the Basmachi grabbed her pantaloons lying in the bucket and stuffed them tightly into her mouth, tightening their ties at the back of her head. Being wet, dirty and smelly, the thin silk pantaloons filled her mouth so tightly that she could not even move her tongue, much less spit them out. This in itself was a very painful torture. They waited a little and then, lifting her up, they saw that the snake had disappeared into her intestines. Then one of the Basmachi inserted a bull horn into her anus, from which she was given castor bean oil and attached blacksmith bellows to it and began to blow air inside her (probably to straighten the folds of the intestines and provide air to the snake so that it would not suffocate prematurely, In addition, blowing air into the intestines is in itself extremely painful. When her stomach was swollen and looked like a tightly inflated ball, the bellows were removed, and the rectum was tightly stuffed with oiled cotton. Inflating with air has long been known as torture in the East (for more details, see below). Al Masudi "Gold mines and placers of gems"). Then Susanna Matveevna was put on a camel and tied, they were taken somewhere in the steppe. So they rode for several hours. Having arrived at the right place, such that she could be discovered. They dismounted. They slaughtered the camel and pulled out his entrails. Then, taking the tied Susanna Matveevna, they put her inside the camel's belly, sticking her head out through the anus, and tightly sewed up the skin of the cut belly with tendons so that only her head stuck out. Then they anointed her head with oil and stretched the camel's bladder so that it fit tightly, like a second skin, around her. So that she doesn't suffocate prematurely. A small hole was cut opposite the nostrils. After which the Basmachi galloped away.

What happened next can only be guessed at. The sun rose, the heat began, and the drying bubble pulled the head tightly together, causing terrible torment. The camel's body also became terribly hot. The straps that bound her arms and legs had dried out and cut tightly into her body, causing severe pain. As the temperature increased, the snake began to show activity, and since the intestines were inflated with air, it crawled through the intestines. Indescribable torment began. The snake passed through the entire large intestine and entered the small intestine through the bauginium valve, since its mouth was sewn up, it could not bite or chew the intestines, but simply stupidly climbed forward. Promoting it through small intestine caused indescribable pain, and finally it entered the stomach through the pylorus. While poking at the walls, she accidentally fell into the esophagus and, having climbed up it, ran into a rag plug, which was held by a bladder tightly wrapped around her head and sticking to her face, and clogged windpipe and caused suffocation. She remained there until they began to perform an autopsy and removed the barrier that prevented her from crawling out.

Afterwards the Basmachi were put on trial and they got what they deserved.

Anticipating questions, I will say everything that is written here is true. I just made a small literary treatment of what my grandfather told me and what I read in his notes. I simply retold it in my own words, trying not to deviate one step from the original. The only thing is that I do not give some names here and do not indicate the location of the action. I do this deliberately for ethical reasons. The fact is that the descendants of these Basmachi may be alive. Then they were enemies, but now times have changed and they have become heroes for independence. Therefore, for ethical reasons, I do not indicate their names or the location of the action. Unfortunately, I do not have any documents left on this case.

After the death of his grandfather, his wife gave everything to the museum, where they disappeared. So you'll have to take my word for it. I would really like to know about similar facts. If anyone has any, post them, it will be interesting to discuss them.

25. Skafism

An ancient Persian method of execution in which a person was stripped naked and placed in a tree trunk so that only the head, arms and legs protruded. They were then fed only milk and honey until the victim suffered from severe diarrhea. Thus, honey got into all open areas of the body, which was supposed to attract insects. As the person's feces accumulated, it would increasingly attract insects and they would start feeding and breeding in his/her skin, which would become more gangrenous. Death may take more than 2 weeks and is most likely due to starvation, dehydration and shock.

24. Guillotine

Created in the late 1700s, it was one of the first methods of execution that called for ending a life rather than inflicting pain. Although the guillotine was specifically invented as a form of human execution, it was banned in France, and was last used in 1977.

23. Republican marriage

A very strange method of execution was practiced in France. The man and woman were tied together and then thrown into the river to drown.

22. Cement shoes

The execution method was preferred by the American mafia. Similar to Republican Marriage in that it used drowning, but instead of being tied to a person of the opposite sex, the victim's feet were placed in concrete blocks.

21. Execution by an elephant

Elephants in South-East Asia often trained to prolong the victim's death. The elephant is a heavy beast, but easy to train. Teaching him to trample criminals on command has always been an exciting thing. Many times this method has been used to show that there are rulers even in the natural world.

20. Walk on the plank

Mainly practiced by pirates and sailors. The victims often did not have time to drown, as they were attacked by sharks, which, as a rule, followed the ships.

19. Bestiary - torn to pieces by wild animals

Bestiaries are criminals in Ancient Rome who were given over to be torn to pieces wild animals. Although sometimes the act was voluntary and carried out for money or recognition, often the bestiaries were political prisoners who were sent into the arena naked and unable to defend themselves.

18. Mazatello

The method is named after the weapon used during execution, usually a hammer. This method death penalty was popular in the papal state in the 18th century. The condemned man was escorted to the scaffold in the square and he was left alone with the executioner and the coffin. Then the executioner raised the hammer and struck the victim's head. Since such a blow, as a rule, did not lead to death, the victims' throats were cut immediately after the blow.

17. Vertical “shaker”

Originating in the United States, this method of capital punishment is now often used in countries such as Iran. Although this is very similar to hanging, in this case to break spinal cord, victims were violently lifted up by the neck, usually with the help of a crane.

16. Sawing

Supposedly used in parts of Europe and Asia. The victim was turned upside down and then sawed in half, starting from the groin. Since the victim was upside down, the brain received enough blood to keep the victim conscious while the major abdominal vessels were ruptured.

15. Skinning

The act of removing skin from a person's body. This type of execution was often used to incite fear, as the execution was usually carried out in public place in plain sight.

14. Bloody Eagle

This type of execution was described in the Scandinavian sagas. The victim's ribs were broken so that they resembled wings. Then the lungs of the victim were pulled through the hole between the ribs. The wounds were sprinkled with salt.

13. Torture grid

Roasting a victim over hot coals.

12. Crush

Although you have already read about the elephant crushing method, there is another similar method. Crushing was popular in Europe and America as a method of torture. Each time the victim refused to comply, more weight was placed on their chest until the victim died from lack of air.

11. Wheeling

Also known as Catherine's Wheel. The wheel looked like an ordinary cart wheel, only larger in size with more spokes. The victim was undressed, the arms and legs were spread out and tied, then the executioner beat the victim with a large hammer, breaking the bones. At the same time, the executioner tried not to deliver fatal blows.

So, the most brutal executions and tortures are top 10:

10. Spanish tickler

The method is also known as "cat's paws". These devices were used by the executioner to tear and tear off the skin of the victim. Often death did not occur immediately, but as a result of infection.

9. Burning at the stake

A popular method of death penalty in history. If the victim was lucky, he or she was executed along with several others. This guaranteed that the flame would be large and death would occur from poisoning carbon monoxide, and not from being burned alive.

8. Bamboo

Extremely slow and painful punishment was used in Asia. The bamboo stems sticking out of the ground were sharpened. The accused was then hung over the place where this bamboo grew. Fast growth bamboo and its pointed tips allowed the plant to pierce the human body through and through in one night.

7. Premature burial

This technique has been used by governments throughout the history of capital punishment. One of the last documented cases was during the Nanjing massacre in 1937, when Japanese troops buried Chinese citizens alive.

6. Ling Chi

Also known as "death by slow cutting" or "slow death", this form of execution was eventually outlawed in China in the early 20th century. The victim's body organs were slowly and methodically removed while the executioner tried to keep him or her alive as long as possible.

5. Seppuku

A form of ritual suicide that allowed a warrior to die with honor. It was used by samurai.

4. Copper bull

The design of this death machine was developed by the ancient Greeks, namely the coppersmith Perillus, who sold the terrible bull to the Sicilian tyrant Phalaris so that he could execute criminals in a new way. Inside the copper statue, through the door, a living person was placed. And then... Phalaris first tested the unit on its developer, the unfortunate greedy Perilla. Subsequently, Phalaris himself was roasted in a bull.

3. Colombian tie

A person's throat is cut with a knife, and the tongue sticks out through the hole. This method of murder indicated that the murdered man had given some information to the police.

2. Crucifixion

A particularly cruel method of execution, used mainly by the Romans. It was as slow, painful and humiliating as it could be. Usually, after prolonged beating or torture, the victim was forced to carry his cross to the place of his death. She was subsequently either nailed or tied to a cross, where she hung for several weeks. Death, as a rule, occurred from lack of air.

1. The most brutal executions: Hanged, drowned and dismembered

Used mainly in England. The method is considered one of the most brutal forms of execution ever created. As the name suggests, the execution was carried out in three parts. Part one - the victim was tied to a wooden frame. So she hung almost until she was half dead. Immediately after this, the victim's stomach was ripped open, and the insides were taken out and removed. Next, the entrails were burned in front of the victim. The condemned man was then beheaded. After all this, his body was divided into four parts and scattered throughout England as a public display. This punishment was applied only to men; convicted women, as a rule, were burned at the stake.

Bamboo is one of the fastest growing plants on Earth. Some of its Chinese varieties can grow a full meter in a day. Some historians believe that the deadly bamboo torture was used not only by the ancient Chinese, but also by the Japanese military during World War II.

How it works?

1) Sprouts of living bamboo are sharpened with a knife to form sharp “spears”;

2) The victim is suspended horizontally, with his back or stomach, over a bed of young pointed bamboo;

3) Bamboo quickly grows high, pierces the skin of the martyr and grows through him abdominal cavity, a person dies for a very long time and painfully.

2. Iron Maiden

Like torture with bamboo, the “iron maiden” is considered by many researchers to be a terrible legend. Perhaps these metal sarcophagi with sharp spikes inside only frightened the people under investigation, after which they confessed to anything. The "Iron Maiden" was invented at the end of the 18th century, i.e. already at the end of the Catholic Inquisition.

How it works?

1) The victim is stuffed into the sarcophagus and the door is closed;

2) The spikes driven into the inner walls of the “iron maiden” are quite short and do not pierce the victim, but only cause pain. The investigator, as a rule, receives a confession in a matter of minutes, which the arrested person only has to sign;

3) If the prisoner shows fortitude and continues to remain silent, long nails, knives and rapiers are pushed through special holes in the sarcophagus. The pain becomes simply unbearable;

4) The victim never admits to what he did, then she was locked in a sarcophagus for long time, where she died from loss of blood;

5) Some models of the “iron maiden” were provided with spikes at eye level in order to quickly poke them out.

3. Skafism

The name of this torture comes from the Greek “scaphium”, which means “trough”. Scaphism was popular in ancient Persia. During the torture, the victim, most often a prisoner of war, was devoured alive by various insects and their larvae who were partial to human flesh and blood.

How it works?

1) The prisoner is placed in a shallow trough and wrapped in chains.

2) He is force fed large quantities milk and honey, which causes the victim to have profuse diarrhea, which attracts insects.

3) The prisoner, having shit himself and smeared with honey, is allowed to float in a trough in a swamp, where there are many hungry creatures.

4) The insects immediately begin their meal, with the living flesh of the martyr as the main course.

4. The Terrible Pear

“The pear is lying there - you can’t eat it,” it is said about the medieval European tool for “educating” blasphemers, liars, women who gave birth out of wedlock, and men gay. Depending on the crime, the torturer put a pear in the sinner’s mouth, anal hole or vagina.

How it works?

1) A tool consisting of pointed pear-shaped leaf-shaped segments is inserted into the client’s desired body hole;

2) The executioner little by little turns the screw on the top of the pear, while the “leaves” segments bloom inside the martyr, causing hellish pain;

3) After the pear is revealed completely, the offender receives internal damage, incompatible with life and dies in terrible agony, if he has not already fallen into unconsciousness.

5. Copper Bull

A living person was pushed inside the copper statue through a special door.

Phalaris first tested the unit on its creator - the greedy Perilla. Subsequently, Phalaris himself was roasted in a bull.

How it works?

1) The victim is closed in a hollow copper statue of a bull;

2) A fire is lit under the bull’s belly;

3) The victim is fried alive, like a ham in a frying pan;

4) The structure of the bull is such that the cries of the martyr come from the mouth of the statue, like a bull’s roar;

5) Jewelry and amulets were made from the bones of the executed, which were sold at bazaars and were in great demand..

6. Torture by rats

Torture by rats was very popular in ancient China. However, we will look at the rat punishment technique developed by 16th century Dutch Revolution leader Diedrick Sonoy.

How it works?

1) The stripped naked martyr is placed on a table and tied;

2) Large, heavy cages with hungry rats are placed on the prisoner’s stomach and chest. The bottom of the cells is opened using a special valve;

3) Hot coals are placed on top of the cages to stir up the rats;

4) Trying to escape the heat of hot coals, rats gnaw their way through the flesh of the victim.

7. Cradle of Judas

The Judas Cradle was one of the most torturous torture machines in the arsenal of the Suprema - the Spanish Inquisition. Victims usually died from infection, as a result of the fact that the pointed seat of the torture machine was never disinfected. The Cradle of Judas, as an instrument of torture, was considered “loyal” because it did not break bones or tear ligaments.

How it works?

1) The victim, whose hands and feet are tied, is seated on the top of a pointed pyramid;

2) The top of the pyramid is thrust into the anus or vagina;

3) Using ropes, the victim is gradually lowered lower and lower;

4) The torture continues for several hours or even days until the victim dies from powerlessness and pain, or from blood loss due to rupture of soft tissues.

8. Trampling by elephants

For several centuries, this execution was practiced in India and Indochina. An elephant is very easy to train and teaching it to trample a guilty victim with its huge feet is a matter of just a few days.

How it works?

1. The victim is tied to the floor;

2. A trained elephant is brought into the hall to crush the martyr’s head;

3. Sometimes before the “head test,” animals crush the victims’ arms and legs in order to amuse the audience.

Probably the most famous and unrivaled death machine of its kind called the “rack”. It was first tested around 300 AD. on the Christian martyr Vincent of Zaragoza.

Anyone who survived the rack could no longer use their muscles and became a helpless vegetable.

How it works?

1. This instrument of torture is a special bed with rollers at both ends, around which ropes are wound to hold the victim’s wrists and ankles. As the rollers rotated, the ropes pulled in opposite directions, stretching the body;

2. Ligaments in the victim’s arms and legs are stretched and torn, bones pop out of their joints.

3. Another version of the rack was also used, called strappado: it consisted of 2 pillars dug into the ground and connected by a crossbar. The interrogated person's hands were tied behind his back and lifted by a rope tied to his hands. Sometimes a log or other weights were attached to his bound legs. At the same time, the arms of the person raised on the rack were turned back and often came out of their joints, so that the convict had to hang on his outstretched arms. They were on the rack from several minutes to an hour or more. This type of rack was used most often in Western Europe

4. In Russia, a suspect raised on the rack was beaten on the back with a whip and “put to the fire,” that is, burning brooms were passed over the body.

5. In some cases, the executioner broke the ribs of a man hanging on a rack with red-hot pincers.

10. Paraffin in the bladder

A savage form of torture, the exact use of which has not been established.

How it works?

1. Candle paraffin was rolled out by hand into a thin sausage, which urethra administered orally;

2. Paraffin slipped into the bladder, where solid salts and other nasty things began to settle on it.

3. Soon the victim began to have kidney problems and died from acute renal failure. On average, death occurred within 3-4 days.

11. Shiri (camel cap)

A monstrous fate awaited those whom the Ruanzhuans (a union of nomadic Turkic-speaking peoples) took into slavery. They destroyed the slave's memory terrible torture- putting a shiri on the victim’s head. Usually this fate befell young men captured in battle.

How it works?

1. First, the slaves' heads were shaved bald, and every hair was carefully scraped out at the root.

2. The executors slaughtered the camel and skinned its carcass, first of all, separating its heaviest, dense nuchal part.

3. Having divided the neck into pieces, they immediately pulled it in pairs over the shaved heads of the prisoners. These pieces stuck to the heads of the slaves like a plaster. This meant putting on the shiri.

4. After putting on the shiri, the neck of the doomed person was chained in a special wooden block so that the subject could not touch his head to the ground. In this form, they were taken away from crowded places so that no one would hear their heartbreaking screams, and they were thrown there in an open field, with their hands and feet tied, in the sun, without water and without food.

5. The torture lasted 5 days.

6. Only a few remained alive, and the rest died not from hunger or even from thirst, but from unbearable, inhuman torment caused by drying, shrinking rawhide camel skin on the head. Inexorably shrinking under the rays of the scorching sun, the width squeezed and squeezed the slave's shaved head like an iron hoop. Already on the second day, the shaved hair of the martyrs began to sprout. Coarse and straight Asian hair sometimes grew into the rawhide; in most cases, finding no way out, the hair curled and went back into the scalp, causing even greater suffering. Within a day the man lost his mind. Only on the fifth day did the Ruanzhuans come to check whether any of the prisoners had survived. If at least one of the tortured people was found alive, it was considered that the goal had been achieved. .

7. Anyone who underwent such a procedure either died, unable to withstand the torture, or lost his memory for life, turned into a mankurt - a slave who does not remember his past.

8. The skin of one camel was enough for five or six widths.

12. Implantation of metals

A very strange means of torture and execution was used in the Middle Ages.

How it works?

1. A deep incision was made on a person’s legs, where a piece of metal (iron, lead, etc.) was placed, after which the wound was stitched up.

2. Over time, the metal oxidized, poisoning the body and causing terrible pain.

3. Most often, the poor people tore the skin in the place where the metal was sewn up and died from blood loss.

13. Dividing a person into two parts

This terrible execution originated in Thailand. The most hardened criminals were subjected to it - mostly murderers.

How it works?

1. The accused is placed in a robe woven from vines, and sharp objects prick him;

2. After this, his body is quickly cut into two parts, the upper half is immediately placed on a red-hot copper grate; This operation stops the bleeding and prolongs the life of most people.

A small addition: This torture is described in the book of the Marquis de Sade “Justine, or the successes of vice.” This is a small excerpt from a large piece of text where de Sade allegedly describes the torture of the peoples of the world. But why supposedly? According to many critics, the Marquis was very fond of lying. He had an extraordinary imagination and a couple of delusions, so this torture, like some others, could have been a figment of his imagination. But this field should not refer to Donatien Alphonse as Baron Munchausen. This torture, in my opinion, if it did not exist before, is quite realistic. If, of course, the person is pumped up with painkillers (opiates, alcohol, etc.) before this, so that he does not die before his body touches the bars.

14. Inflating with air through the anus

A terrible torture in which a person is pumped with air through anal passage.

There is evidence that in Rus' even Peter the Great himself sinned with this.

Most often, thieves were executed this way.

How it works?

1. The victim was tied hand and foot.

2. Then they took cotton and stuffed it into the poor man’s ears, nose and mouth.

3. Bellows were inserted into his anus, with the help of which a huge amount of air was pumped into the person, as a result of which he became like a balloon.

3. After that, I plugged his anus with a piece of cotton.

4. Then they opened two veins above his eyebrows, from which all the blood flowed out under enormous pressure.

5. Sometimes tied up man They stood him naked on the roof of the palace and shot him with arrows until he died.

6. Until 1970, this method was often used in Jordanian prisons.

15. Polledro

Neapolitan executioners lovingly called this torture “polledro” - “foal” (polledro) and were proud that it was first used in their hometown. Although history has not preserved the name of its inventor, they said that he was an expert in horse breeding and came up with an unusual device to tame his horses.

Only a few decades later, lovers of making fun of people turned the horse breeder’s device into a real torture machine for people.

The machine was a wooden frame, similar to a ladder, the crossbars of which had very sharp angles, so that when a person was placed on them with his back, they would cut into the body from the back of the head to the heels. The staircase ended with a huge wooden spoon, into which the head was placed, as if in a cap.

How it works?

1. Holes were drilled on both sides of the frame and in the “cap”, and ropes were threaded into each of them. The first of them was tightened on the forehead of the tortured, the last tied the big toes. As a rule, there were thirteen ropes, but for those who were especially stubborn, the number was increased.

2. Using special devices, the ropes were pulled tighter and tighter - it seemed to the victims that, having crushed the muscles, they were digging into the bones.

16. Dead Man's Bed (modern China)

The Chinese Communist Party uses the “dead man’s bed” torture mainly on those prisoners who try to protest against illegal imprisonment through a hunger strike. In most cases, these are prisoners of conscience, imprisoned for their beliefs.

How it works?

1. The arms and legs of a stripped prisoner are tied to the corners of a bed on which, instead of a mattress, there is a wooden board with a hole cut out. A bucket for excrement is placed under the hole. Often, a person’s body is tied tightly to the bed with ropes so that he cannot move at all. A person remains in this position continuously for several days to weeks.

2. In some prisons, such as Shenyang City No. 2 Prison and Jilin City Prison, police also place a hard object under the victim's back to intensify the suffering.

3. It also happens that the bed is placed vertically and the person hangs for 3-4 days, stretched out by his limbs.

4. Added to this torment is force feeding, which is carried out using a tube inserted through the nose into the esophagus, into which liquid food is poured.

5. This procedure is performed mainly by prisoners on the orders of the guards, and not by medical workers. They do it very rudely and unprofessionally, often causing serious damage internal organs person.

6. Those who have gone through this torture say that it causes displacement of the vertebrae, joints of the arms and legs, as well as numbness and blackening of the limbs, which often leads to disability.

17. Yoke (Modern China)

One of the medieval tortures used in modern Chinese prisons is the wearing of a wooden collar. It is placed on a prisoner, causing him to be unable to walk or stand normally.

The clamp is a board from 50 to 80 cm in length, from 30 to 50 cm in width and 10 - 15 cm in thickness. In the middle of the clamp there are two holes for the legs.

The victim, who is wearing a collar, has difficulty moving, must crawl into bed and usually must sit or lie down because vertical position causes pain and leads to leg injury. Without assistance, a person with a collar cannot go to eat or go to the toilet. When a person gets out of bed, the collar not only puts pressure on the legs and heels, causing pain, but its edge clings to the bed and prevents the person from returning to it. At night the prisoner is unable to turn around, and in winter time a short blanket does not cover your legs.

An even worse form of this torture is called “crawling with a wooden clamp.” The guards put a collar on the man and order him to crawl on the concrete floor. If he stops, he is hit on the back with a police baton. An hour later, his fingers, toenails and knees are bleeding profusely, while his back is covered in wounds from the blows.

18. Impalement

A terrible, savage execution that came from the East.

The essence of this execution was that a person was laid on his stomach, one sat on him to prevent him from moving, the other held him by the neck. A stake was inserted into the person's anus, which was then driven in with a mallet; then they drove a stake into the ground. The weight of the body forced the stake to go deeper and deeper and finally it came out under the armpit or between the ribs.

19. Spanish water torture

In order to the best way to carry out the procedure of this torture, the accused was placed on one of the types of racks or on a special big table with a rising middle part. After the victim's arms and legs were tied to the edges of the table, the executioner began work in one of several ways. One of these methods involved forcing the victim, using a funnel, to swallow a large number of water, then they hit the swollen and arched belly. Another form involved placing a cloth tube down the victim's throat through which water was slowly poured, causing the victim to swell and suffocate. If this was not enough, the tube was pulled out, causing internal damage, and then inserted again and the process repeated. Sometimes cold water torture was used. In this case, the accused lay naked on a table under a stream of ice water for hours. It is interesting to note that this type of torture was considered light, and the court accepted confessions obtained in this way as voluntary and given by the defendant without the use of torture. Most often, these tortures were used by the Spanish Inquisition in order to extract confessions from heretics and witches.

20. Chinese water torture

They sat the man in a very cold room, tied him so that he could not move his head, and complete darkness Cold water was dripped very slowly onto his forehead. After a few days the person froze or went crazy.

21. Spanish armchair

This instrument of torture was widely used by the executioners of the Spanish Inquisition and was a chair made of iron, on which the prisoner was seated, and his legs were placed in stocks attached to the legs of the chair. When he found himself in such a completely helpless position, a brazier was placed under his feet; with hot coals, so that the legs began to slowly fry, and in order to prolong the suffering of the poor fellow, the legs were poured with oil from time to time.

Another version of the Spanish chair was often used, which was a metal throne to which the victim was tied and a fire was lit under the seat, roasting the buttocks. The famous poisoner La Voisin was tortured on such a chair during the famous Poisoning Case in France.

22. GRIDIRON (Grid for torture by fire)

Torture of Saint Lawrence on the gridiron.

This type of torture is often mentioned in the lives of saints - real and fictitious, but there is no evidence that the gridiron “survived” until the Middle Ages and had even a small circulation in Europe. It is usually described as an ordinary metal grate, 6 feet long and two and a half feet wide, mounted horizontally on legs to allow a fire to be built underneath.

Sometimes the gridiron was made in the form of a rack in order to be able to resort to combined torture.

Saint Lawrence was martyred on a similar grid.

This torture was used very rarely. Firstly, it was quite easy to kill the person being interrogated, and secondly, there were a lot of simpler, but no less cruel tortures.

23. Pectoral

In ancient times, a pectoral was a female breast decoration in the form of a pair of carved gold or silver bowls, often sprinkled with precious stones. It was worn like a modern bra and secured with chains.

In a mocking analogy with this decoration, the savage instrument of torture used by the Venetian Inquisition was named.

In 1985, the pectoral was heated red-hot and, taking it with tongs, they put it on the tortured woman’s chest and held it until she confessed. If the accused persisted, the executioners heated up the pectoral again cooled by the living body and continued the interrogation.

Very often, after this barbaric torture, charred, torn holes were left in place of the woman’s breasts.

24. Tickle torture

This seemingly harmless effect was a terrible torture. With prolonged tickling, a person's nerve conduction increased so much that even the lightest touch initially caused twitching, laughter, and then turned into terrible pain. If such torture was continued for quite a long time, then after a while spasms would appear. respiratory muscles and, in the end, the tortured person died from suffocation.

In the simplest version of torture, the interrogated person was tickled in sensitive areas either simply with their hands, or with hair brushes or brushes. Hard ones were popular bird feathers. Usually they tickled under the armpits, heels, nipples, inguinal folds, genitals, and women also under the breasts.

In addition, torture was often carried out using animals that licked some tasty substance from the heels of the interrogated person. The goat was very often used, since its very hard tongue, adapted for eating grass, caused very strong irritation.

There was also a type of tickling torture using a beetle, most common in India. With it, a small bug was placed on the head of a man's penis or on a woman's nipple and covered with half a nut shell. After some time, the tickling caused by the movement of insect legs on a living body became so unbearable that the interrogated person confessed to anything

25. Crocodile

These tubular metal crocodile pliers were red-hot and used to tear the penis of the person being tortured. First, with a few caressing movements (often made by women), or with a tight bandage, a persistent, hard erection was achieved and then the torture began

26. Tooth crusher

These serrated iron tongs were used to slowly crush the testicles of the interrogated person.

Something similar was widely used in Stalinist and fascist prisons.

27. Creepy tradition.

Actually, this is not torture, but an African ritual, but, in my opinion, it is very cruel. Girls aged 3-6 years old simply had their external genitalia scraped out without anesthesia.

Thus, the girl did not lose the ability to have children, but was forever deprived of the opportunity to experience sexual desire and pleasure. This ritual is done “for the benefit” of women, so that they will never be tempted to cheat on their husbands

28. Bloody Eagle

One of the most ancient tortures, during which the victim was tied face down and his back was opened, his ribs were broken off at the spine and spread apart like wings. Scandinavian legends claim that during such an execution, the wounds of the victim were sprinkled with salt.

Many historians claim that this torture was used by pagans against Christians, others are sure that spouses caught in treason were punished in this way, and still others claim that the bloody eagle is just a terrible legend.

1. Chinese bamboo torture

A notorious method of terrible Chinese execution throughout the world. Perhaps a legend, because to this day not a single documentary evidence has survived that this torture was actually used.

How it works?
1) Sprouts of living bamboo are sharpened with a knife to form sharp “spears”;
2) The victim is suspended horizontally, with his back or stomach, over a bed of young pointed bamboo;
3) Bamboo quickly grows high, pierces the skin of the martyr and grows through his abdominal cavity, the person dies for a very long time and painfully.

2. Iron Maiden

How it works?
1) The victim is stuffed into the sarcophagus and the door is closed;
2) The spikes driven into the inner walls of the “iron maiden” are quite short and do not pierce the victim, but only cause pain. The investigator, as a rule, receives a confession in a matter of minutes, which the arrested person only has to sign;
3) If the prisoner shows fortitude and continues to remain silent, long nails, knives and rapiers are pushed through special holes in the sarcophagus. The pain becomes simply unbearable;
4) The victim never admits to what she had done, so she was locked in a sarcophagus for a long time, where she died from loss of blood;
5) Some models of the “iron maiden” were provided with spikes at eye level in order to quickly poke them out.

3. Skafism
The name of this torture comes from the Greek “scaphium”, which means “trough”. Scaphism was popular in ancient Persia. During the torture, the victim, most often a prisoner of war, was devoured alive by various insects and their larvae who were partial to human flesh and blood.

How it works?
1) The prisoner is placed in a shallow trough and wrapped in chains.
2) He is force-fed large quantities of milk and honey, which causes the victim to have profuse diarrhea, which attracts insects.
3) The prisoner, having shit himself and smeared with honey, is allowed to float in a trough in a swamp, where there are many hungry creatures.
4) The insects immediately begin their meal, with the living flesh of the martyr as the main dish.

4. The Terrible Pear

“The pear is lying there - you can’t eat it,” it is said about the medieval European weapon for “educating” blasphemers, liars, women who gave birth out of wedlock, and gay men. Depending on the crime, the torturer thrust the pear into the sinner's mouth, anus or vagina.

How it works?
1) A tool consisting of pointed pear-shaped leaf-shaped segments is inserted into the client’s desired body hole;
2) The executioner little by little turns the screw on the top of the pear, while the “leaves” segments bloom inside the martyr, causing hellish pain;
3) After the pear is completely opened, the offender receives internal injuries incompatible with life and dies in terrible agony, if he has not already fallen into unconsciousness.

5. Copper Bull

The design of this death unit was developed by the ancient Greeks, or, to be more precise, by the coppersmith Perillus, who sold his terrible bull to the Sicilian tyrant Phalaris, who simply loved to torture and kill people in unusual ways.
A living person was pushed inside the copper statue through a special door.
Phalaris first tested the unit on its creator, the greedy Perilla. Subsequently, Phalaris himself was roasted in a bull.

How it works?
1) The victim is closed in a hollow copper statue of a bull;
2) A fire is lit under the bull’s belly;
3) The victim is fried alive, like a ham in a frying pan;
4) The structure of the bull is such that the cries of the martyr come from the mouth of the statue, like a bull’s roar;
5) Jewelry and amulets were made from the bones of the executed, which were sold at bazaars and were in great demand..

6. Torture by rats

Torture by rats was very popular in ancient China. However, we will look at the rat punishment technique developed by 16th century Dutch Revolution leader Diedrick Sonoy.

How it works?
1) The stripped naked martyr is placed on a table and tied;
2) Large, heavy cages with hungry rats are placed on the prisoner’s stomach and chest. The bottom of the cells is opened using a special valve;
3) Hot coals are placed on top of the cages to stir up the rats;
4) Trying to escape the heat of hot coals, rats gnaw their way through the flesh of the victim.

7. Cradle of Judas

How it works?
1) The victim, whose hands and feet are tied, is seated on the top of a pointed pyramid;
2) The top of the pyramid is thrust into the anus or vagina;
3) Using ropes, the victim is gradually lowered lower and lower;
4) The torture continues for several hours or even days until the victim dies from powerlessness and pain, or from blood loss due to rupture of soft tissues.

8. Trampling by elephants

How it works?
1. The victim is tied to the floor;
2. A trained elephant is brought into the hall to crush the martyr’s head;
3. Sometimes before the “head test,” animals crush the victims’ arms and legs in order to amuse the audience.

Probably the most famous and unrivaled death machine of its kind called the “rack”. It was first tested around 300 AD. on the Christian martyr Vincent of Zaragoza.
Anyone who survived the rack could no longer use their muscles and became a helpless vegetable.

How it works?
1. This instrument of torture is a special bed with rollers at both ends, around which ropes are wound to hold the victim’s wrists and ankles. As the rollers rotated, the ropes pulled in opposite directions, stretching the body;
2. Ligaments in the victim’s arms and legs are stretched and torn, bones pop out of their joints.
3. Another version of the rack was also used, called strappado: it consisted of 2 pillars dug into the ground and connected by a crossbar. The interrogated person's hands were tied behind his back and lifted by a rope tied to his hands. Sometimes a log or other weights were attached to his bound legs. At the same time, the arms of the person raised on the rack were turned back and often came out of their joints, so that the convict had to hang on his outstretched arms. They were on the rack from several minutes to an hour or more. This type of rack was used most often in Western Europe
4. In Russia, a suspect raised on the rack was beaten on the back with a whip and “put to the fire,” that is, burning brooms were passed over the body.
5. In some cases, the executioner broke the ribs of a man hanging on a rack with red-hot pincers.

10. Paraffin in the bladder
A savage form of torture, the exact use of which has not been established.
How it works?
1. Candle paraffin was rolled by hand into a thin sausage, which was inserted through the urethra;
2. Paraffin slipped into the bladder, where solid salts and other nasty things began to settle on it.
3. Soon the victim began to have kidney problems and died from acute renal failure. On average, death occurred within 3-4 days.

11. Shiri (camel cap)
A monstrous fate awaited those whom the Ruanzhuans (a union of nomadic Turkic-speaking peoples) took into slavery. They destroyed the slave's memory with a terrible torture - putting a shiri on the victim's head. Usually this fate befell young men captured in battle.

How it works?
1. First, the slaves' heads were shaved bald, and every hair was carefully scraped out at the root.
2. The executors slaughtered the camel and skinned its carcass, first of all, separating its heaviest, dense nuchal part.
3. Having divided the neck into pieces, they immediately pulled it in pairs over the shaved heads of the prisoners. These pieces stuck to the heads of the slaves like a plaster. This meant putting on the shiri.
4. After putting on the shiri, the neck of the doomed person was chained in a special wooden block so that the subject could not touch his head to the ground. In this form, they were taken away from crowded places so that no one would hear their heartbreaking screams, and they were thrown there in an open field, with their hands and feet tied, in the sun, without water and without food.
5. The torture lasted 5 days.
6. Only a few remained alive, and the rest died not from hunger or even from thirst, but from unbearable, inhuman torment caused by drying, shrinking rawhide camel skin on the head. Inexorably shrinking under the rays of the scorching sun, the width squeezed and squeezed the slave's shaved head like an iron hoop. Already on the second day, the shaved hair of the martyrs began to sprout. Coarse and straight Asian hair sometimes grew into the rawhide; in most cases, finding no way out, the hair curled and went back into the scalp, causing even greater suffering. Within a day the man lost his mind. Only on the fifth day did the Ruanzhuans come to check whether any of the prisoners had survived. If at least one of the tortured people was found alive, it was considered that the goal had been achieved. .
7. Anyone who underwent such a procedure either died, unable to withstand the torture, or lost his memory for life, turned into a mankurt - a slave who does not remember his past.
8. The skin of one camel was enough for five or six widths.

12. Implantation of metals

A very strange means of torture and execution was used in the Middle Ages.
How it works?

1. A deep incision was made on a person’s legs, where a piece of metal (iron, lead, etc.) was placed, after which the wound was stitched up.
2. Over time, the metal oxidized, poisoning the body and causing terrible pain.
3. Most often, the poor people tore the skin in the place where the metal was sewn up and died from blood loss.

13. Dividing a person into two parts
This terrible execution originated in Thailand. The most hardened criminals were subjected to it - mostly murderers.

How it works?
1. The accused is placed in a robe woven from vines and stabbed with sharp objects;
2. After this, his body is quickly cut into two parts, the upper half is immediately placed on a red-hot copper grate; This operation stops the bleeding and prolongs the life of most people.
A small addition: This torture is described in the book of the Marquis de Sade “Justine, or the successes of vice.” This is a small excerpt from a large piece of text where de Sade allegedly describes the torture of the peoples of the world. But why supposedly? According to many critics, the Marquis was very fond of lying. He had an extraordinary imagination and a couple of delusions, so this torture, like some others, could have been a figment of his imagination. But this field should not refer to Donatien Alphonse as Baron Munchausen. This torture, in my opinion, if it did not exist before, is quite realistic. If, of course, the person is pumped up with painkillers (opiates, alcohol, etc.) before this, so that he does not die before his body touches the bars.

14. Inflating with air through the anus

A terrible torture in which a person is pumped with air through the anus. Most often, thieves were executed this way.

How it works?
1. The victim was tied hand and foot.
2. Then they took cotton and stuffed it into the poor man’s ears, nose and mouth.
3. Bellows were inserted into his anus, with the help of which a huge amount of air was pumped into the person, as a result of which he became like a balloon.
3. After that, I plugged his anus with a piece of cotton.
4. Then they opened two veins above his eyebrows, of which under a huge
All the blood flowed out under pressure.
5. Sometimes a bound person was placed naked on the roof of the palace and shot with arrows until he died.
6. Until 1970, this method was often used in Jordanian prisons.

15. Polledro

Only a few decades later, lovers of making fun of people turned the horse breeder’s device into a real torture machine for people.

The machine was a wooden frame, similar to a ladder, the crossbars of which had very sharp angles, so that when a person was placed on them with his back, they cut into the body from the back of the head to the heels. The staircase ended with a huge wooden spoon, into which the head was placed, as if in a cap.

How it works?
1. Holes were drilled on both sides of the frame and in the “cap”, and ropes were threaded into each of them. The first of them was tightened on the forehead of the tortured, the last tied the big toes. As a rule, there were thirteen ropes, but for those who were especially stubborn, the number was increased.
2. Using special devices, the ropes were pulled tighter and tighter - it seemed to the victims that, having crushed the muscles, they were digging into the bones.