None of the areas of human knowledge showed so much imagination as in the ability to inflict pain or sow death. And if the executions, depending on the degree of guilt of the condemned, could be quick or long, then during the “with bias” inquiry the main art of the executioner always consisted in maintaining a clear consciousness of the victim throughout the execution.
The worst tortures were lengthy procedures. In order for the suspect to be able to extradite the greatest number of his accomplices, to tell the details of the crime he committed and to have time to confess everything, they did not spare time.
According to historians and physicians, the “top” of the most terrible tortures (it was believed that there are twenty of them - twice as many as Egyptian executions) are headed by a bamboo plant, common in Asian countries. These stems grow quickly, completely ignoring the barriers that arise, and by cutting off their ends at an angle, you can achieve an amazing effect. In just a few hours, the unfortunate body will be pierced by ruthless sprouts. It is quite enough to get the necessary testimony.
But this is Asia, and in Europe the most terrible tortures spread in the era of the Holy Inquisition. The riot of fantasy of medieval masters demonstrates technically advanced thinking.
If in Russia at that time the executioner, as a rule, managed with an ax, or, in extreme cases, a rack, then the Catholic champions of purity of morals used rather complex mechanisms. Among them are the “iron maiden” with a double-leaf front wall, equipped with sharp spikes inside (opposite the most sensitive parts of the body), the “Spanish boot” with ingenious crushing clamps, and the wheel (an ancient invention used specifically). Particularly effective was the “pear” with petals opening inside various internal cavities where it was pushed.
It’s hard to say which of the 20 worst tortures was worse. For example, an ordinary fork with teeth on both ends rested on the neck and chin. Her purpose is to force her to speak, although she impeded her verbal ability, causing unthinkable suffering with every attempt to say something. But the condemned knew what was needed, and gave the required evidence indistinctly, but inevitably.
Unbearable pain was inflicted by rats, with sharp teeth gnawing their way to freedom through the flesh of the condemned. Special steel cages served for their retention and direction. Edgar Allan Poe described a terrible pointed crescent moon on a pendulum, with each swing dropping lower and lower. To invent such a device, one had to have serious knowledge in the field of mechanics.
There were ways and easier. The man was seated on the top of the pyramid and dragged down with straps so that the top went as deep as possible into his natural hole. Few could withstand such bullying for a long time, there was a pain shock, so this method was not suitable in cases where it was required to obtain the necessary information.
The worst tortures of the 20th century have spread in countries with totalitarian forms of government. The Gestapo and the NKVD had masters of shoulder work, who had at their disposal a variety of tools, but if they weren’t enough, they would not get lost and pinch fingers (or other protruding parts of the body) under investigation with ordinary doors.
Representatives of the special services of democratic states did not lag behind. During the Vietnam War, to get the necessary information, the partisans were hung on a rope and lifted higher by helicopter. They also used an ordinary field telephone, the contacts of which were connected to the head and genitals. Twisted the handle - and the order.
And yet, with progress in the field of psychotropic drugs, the worst tortures are a thing of the past. Why torture the interrogated, and yourself too? It is enough to make an injection of “truth serum”, and the suspect himself will willingly tell everything. Continuous progress and humanism.