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Book Review of Machete Season: The Killers in Rwanda Speak

Machete Season: The Killers in Rwanda Speak
DieHard avatar reviewed on


Fascinating look into the minds of 10 killers of the 1994 Rwandan genocide. Hatzfeld does a commendable job of giving voice to the unimaginable. I can't find the words to describe what this book is about so I'll let those involved speak:
Berthe (a survivor) "Before, I knew that a man could kill another man, it happens all the time. Now I know that even the person with whom you've shared food, or with whom you've slept, even he can kill you with no trouble. That is what I have learned since the genocide, and my eyes no longer gaze the same on the face of the earth."

Leopord, a killer, on why so many Tutsis remained silent as they were massacred: "The Tutsis were not asking for anything in those fatal moments because they no longer believed in words. An overpowering sorrow was carrying those people away. They felt so abandoned they did not even open their mouths."