10 Historical Figures Who Got Away With Doing TERRIBLE Things

10 Historical Figures Who Totally Got Away With Doing Terrible Things

Welcome to WatchMojo, and today we’re looking at powerful historical figures who were not punished for their atrocities.

Elizabeth Báthory

Often described as one of history’s most prolific female serial killers, Elizabeth Báthory was accused of killing hundreds of young women between 1590 and 1610. According to legend, servants and peasants who worked in her castle were not safe from the Hungarian noblewoman’s cruel whims. Some tales even claimed she bathed in their blood to preserve her youth—though many historians now suspect that part is exaggerated. Still, many people believed Báthory was guilty at that time. More than 300 witnesses testified against her, and body parts were reportedly found when her castle was raided. While her servants were executed, with one imprisoned for life, Báthory herself escaped the noose. She was instead confined to her castle Csejte, until her death in 1614.

Josef Mengele

This evil doctor remains one of the clearest examples of how some Nazi perpetrators escaped justice after World War II. As an SS officer and physician at Auschwitz—the largest Nazi concentration camp—Josef Mengele carried out gruesome medical practices. We’re talking about horrific experiments on twins, pregnant women and people with deformities. Mengele sent thousands to the gas chamber, earning the chilling nickname “The Angel of Death.” When the war ended, justice never came. Mengele fled Europe, living under false identities in Argentina, Paraguay and Brazil. Despite being one of Nazis’ most wanted war criminals, he was never caught or tried. Rather, he reportedly drowned while swimming in Brazil, escaping the punishment many believed he deserved.

Henry VIII

With Henry VIII, it didn’t matter who you were—wife, advisor, friend or rival. If you stood in his way, your head could roll. Two of his six wives, Anne Boleyn and Catherine Howard, met the executioner’s blade, as did once-loyal allies like Thomas More and Thomas Cromwell. After declaring himself "Supreme Head of the Church of England,” Henry forced subjects to swear loyalty to him over the pope. Refusal meant treason. Estimates suggest tens of thousands perished under his reign. Yet, for all his tyranny, he was never held to account. He was king, after all. Even though he ruled through fear and blood, some historians still portray him as a great monarch. Henry died painfully from illness in 1547.

Jean-Bédel Bokassa

In 1965, Jean-Bédel Bokassa seized power and ruled the Central African Republic with terrifying cruelty. He later crowned himself “Emperor Bokassa I” in a lavish coronation that cost millions. His regime was marked by executions of political rivals, rumors of cannibalism, and reports of mutilating thieves. Things worsened when school kids protested against wearing uniforms made by one of his companies. Nearly a hundred were massacred. Did Bokassa answer for these atrocities? Not really. After being overthrown in 1979, he fled into exile, but was later convicted of murder, embezzlement and other crimes. Though sentenced to death, it was later commuted to life imprisonment. He was ultimately released under a general amnesty ordered in 1993, then posthumously pardoned by President François Bozizé in 2010.

Idi Amin

Isn’t it deeply tragic that Idi Amin never faced any trial for all the atrocities he committed? During his presidency, people lived in constant fear, and around 300,000 Ugandans died as a result of his cruelty. Mass executions, ethnic persecutions and widespread human rights abuses became the norm, with anyone suspected of disloyalty being swiftly executed. His reputation for brutality earned him the nickname “The Butcher of Uganda” and infamous rumors of cannibalism. Yet, like too many dictators, Amin escaped the reckoning he deserved. When he was overthrown in 1979, he fled to Libya, then settled in Saudi Arabia. There, far from the chaos he created, he lived until his death in 2003.

Augusto Pinochet

From 1973 to 1990, Augusto Pinochet ruled Chile after seizing power in a military coup. His regime unleashed a brutal crackdown on political rivals. Thousands were tortured, executed or simply disappeared. Beyond the brutality, Pinochet was accused of embezzling millions in state funds and dabbling in illegal arms and drug deals. While visiting London in 1998, Pinochet was arrested on a Spanish warrant issued by Judge Baltasar Garzón. After 16 months of house arrest in Britain, he returned to Chile to face justice. Though courts began stripping his immunity, his lawyers argued he was too ill to stand trial. Despite multiple house arrests, he was never convicted and died at 91, without spending a day in prison.

Pol Pot

It may surprise many that a ruthless figure like Pol Pot never truly faced justice for his crimes. This was a leader whose reign saw nearly two million Cambodians perish. Determined to build a pure agrarian communist society, he abolished education and religion, emptied cities, and targeted anyone seen as a threat—especially intellectuals. Cambodia became a nation of mass graves and despair. In 1979, Pol Pot was finally overthrown by Vietnam, but continued leading the Khmer Rouge from the jungle. His own movement eventually placed him under house arrest and sentenced him to life imprisonment in 1997. Before justice could catch up with him, Pol Pot died in 1998—still denying responsibility for one of history’s worst genocides.

Emperor Hirohito of Japan

Though some narratives portray Emperor Hirohito as a figurehead manipulated by politicians and his generals, other evidence suggests he knew far more than he admitted. Under his rule, horrific atrocities occured—from the Nanjing Massacre to the attack on Pearl Harbor. So, why wasn’t he tried for his crimes like other Axis leaders? Well, after Japan’s surrender in 1945, General Douglas MacArthur decided that keeping the emperor on the throne would help stabilize the nation. It was a politically convenient move that allowed the Allies to reform Japan peacefully. In exchange, Hirohito renounced his divine status, but kept his throne until his death in 1989. In the end, it appears justice was sacrificed for stability.

Joseph Stalin

People have been punished for far less, yet Joseph Stalin, one of history’s greatest dictators, never answered for his crimes. His rule over the Soviet Union was marked by mass execution, terror and forced labor. Millions perished through purges, famines and brutal Gulag camps, while entire ethnic groups were deported to remote wastelands. Even in his final years, Stalin remained cruelly paranoid. He accused doctors of plotting to kill him and had them tortured in what was known as the “Doctors’ Plot.” Despite the misery he caused, Stalin died in 1953 without ever being held accountable. Some still view him as a hero to this day, a result of decades of propaganda glorifying his reign as one of strength and patriotism.

King Leopold II of Belgium

In the late 1800s, King Leopold II convinced European powers to let him control the Congo Free State as his personal colony. That was the beginning of an unforgettable nightmare for the Congolese people. Once there, he turned it into a massive labor camp for ivory and rubber, both highly profitable then. Those who failed to meet quotas were beaten, mutilated or executed. Soldiers of his Force Publique Army even severed the hands of men, women and children to prove they hadn’t wasted bullets. Between 10 to 15 million Congolese died of disease, starvation and exhaustion, while Leopold grew obscenely rich. When his atrocities were finally exposed, he reluctantly surrendered Congo, but demanded compensation. He died in 1909, hated yet unpunished.

What other historical figures went unpunished for their crimes? Drop a line in the comment section.