About book Left To Tell: Discovering God Amidst The Rwandan Holocaust (2007)
It's sadly ironic that some people see proof that there is no God when they consider the evil manifest in the Rwandan holocaust. This author lived through that holocaust, her family were victims, and she says she discovered God amidst it. The style of this book is that of a religious faith journey. Considering the unbelievably horrible things she experienced, I can't suggest a better approach to the subject. The terrible things that happened are beyond belief! I suppose it makes little sense to compare various historical holocausts in an effort to determine which was worst. But the unique characteristic of the Rwandan holocaust that shocks me is how up close and personal many of the killings were. The majority of the killing was done with macheties and in many cases the killers and victims knew each other, were neighbors, had grown-up together and gone to school together. The predominate religion in the country was Christianity (see footnote), they spoke that same language and they had similar skin color. We're talking about nearly a million people killed (20% of the population) which leads to the probable conclusion that there may have been about the same number of people guilty of murder. In the case of Immaculée Ilibagiza, the author of this book, the killers called out her name while searching the house where she was hiding. They had reason to believe she was there but were unable to find her. She recognized their voices. One of the voices was of a man who she later learns killed her mother and brother and a man who's children she had been classmates with in grade school.Most people assume the holocaust was a Hutu versus Tutsi tribal conflict. But many Hutu's were massacred in the holocaust as well. 10% to 20% of those killed may have been Hutu. It was actually a massacre initiated by a politically extreme group that advocated the ideology of "Hutu Power" that called for killing all Tutsis and moderate Hutus. I found it of interest that there was a Hutu soldier among the RPG (Tutsi) armed fighters who rescued Immaculée and her group of Tutsi survivors. It was the Hutu soldier who recognized Immaculée as a former classmate and saved her and her group from being charged as Hutu spies. They were suspected of being Hutus because the first soldiers they encountered couldn't believe it possible that any real Tutsis could have survived the holocaust in that part of the country.One story from the book that I think illustrates the predicament of the Hutus is one family that rescued and hid a Tutsi woman who had been left for dead. Even though the family was hiding a Tutsi in their house, their son went out each day during the 90 day killing spree to join with other armed Hutus to look for and kill any Tutsis they could find. He had to participate in these murderous activities to prevent other Hutus from suspecting his family of harboring a Tutsi. So it is very possible that some of the killers were reluctant participants in the killing. Hutu families who were found to be hiding Tutsees were slaughtered along with the Tutsis they were hiding. Immaculée lost her mother, father and two brothers to the holocaust. One brother survived by being out of the country. After the RPG had occupied the country and brought the killing to an end, Immaculée met and talked to the man who killed her mother and brother. This is the man who called out her name while looking for her to kill her. It is presumed that his interest in making sure all members of the family were killed was because he was interested in claiming their family's property. She was able to look him in the eye and say, "I forgive you." When asked why she said, "Forgiveness is all I have to offer."Link to Immaculée’s webpage:http://www.immaculee.com/Link to Immaculée’s Left to Tell Charitable Fund for helping Rwandan orphans:http://www.lefttotell.com/fund/index.phpFootnote:As of 2006, Catholics represented 56.5% of the population of Rwanda, Protestants 37.1% (of whom 11.1% were Seventh Day Adventists) and Muslims 4.6%. 1.7% claimed no religious beliefs.
I can't talk about this book without telling a story. I first read it six years ago, upon recommendation from my sister, Jess, who was going to Rwanda to teach for a year. It utterly wrecked me. I read the last page and then tried to describe the story to my husband, Ryan. I couldn't. I broke down sobbing and hugged him, saying over and over again: "I just want to meet her! I just want to meet her and give her a hug!" Flash forward about nine months or so. Ryan and I were going to Rwanda to visit my sister. Many times before then, I would lie in bed and dream about meeting Immaculee. On the plane ride over, I thought about Immaculee. Ryan, Jess, and I and I all took a little weekend getaway to Lake Kivu, near Immaculee's hometown. Of course, Immaculee and her family were all we thought about. But there was no way we'd actually meet her: she'd been living in New York for years. We were happy to just to be in her shadow.So: Ryan, Jess, and I arrive at a little collection of guest houses on Lake Kivu. Our room wouldn't be ready for several hours, so we sat out sunning ourselves until we could go in and deposit our bags. Ryan went to a concession stand to get us something to drink as we sat out under the hot Rwandan sun. Jess and I, in a heat-induced afternoon stupor, became dimly aware of people talking in the distance. We soon realized the voices were speaking English. This was rare, so we paid a little more attention. Out of the corner of my eye I saw a figure in a green shirt who looked vaguely familiar. The figure began walking up to us; Jess and I exchanged glances. Could it BE?"Hello, I'm Immaculee," said the figure, a tiny woman with a big smile on her face."Did you . . . write a book?" I asked. "Yes!"That was it--Jess and I broke into squeals. I believe I said something like, "I've been wanting to give you a hug for so long!" And I did. Ryan came back from the concession stand clutching a soda. His eyes widened as he approached us. "Ryan . . . this is Immaculee!"Turns out, she was leading a group of Americans on a pilgrimmage to Rwanda. The group was about to leave to visit her family home when we came upon them; first, though, they'd stopped for lunch at the guest house. THIS WAS THE FIRST TIME IMMACULEE HAD EVER DONE THIS. Immaculee and all of the lovely pilgrims with her bought us lunch: we sat around under a pavilion and ate together. I think I stared at her the whole time.INCREDIBLE, right? OK, now for the review. This book is absolutely heartbreaking, horrifying, inspiring, challenging. If you don't know anything about the 1994 genocide, you should read it. If you do know a little (or a lot) about the genocide, you should still read it. The author, Immaculee Ilibagiza, came from a respected, well-beloved family. She loved her parents, idolized her older brother, gabbed with girlfriends, experienced love and heartbreak with her boyfriend--she lived the normal life of a young woman, and then the genocide changed everything. Separated from her family, Immaculee was forced to go into hiding. She stayed in the bathroom of a pastor's house with seven other women for three months. The killers walked outside of her window and on the other side of the bathroom door and called her name. They came hunting for her; not just once, but many, many times.This story is the most gripping account of ANYTHING that I've ever read. It is transfixing and transforming. Immaculee survived her ordeal by committing herself completely to prayer and study of the Bible. Whatever your religious persuasion, it is impossible to deny that the faith that she found in the bathroom is real and powerful--even life-saving. Reading about all of the times she escaped death by an extremely narrow margin, it's impossible to call Immaculee's story anything but miraculous. Just like the minor miracle of my meeting with her, 15 years later.
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All those who harassed Eliece about this book, need to buck up and read it. This is a story that everyone should know. This is a story of great faith. Even though it deals with what happened in Rwanda (which we should all understand) it is the story of a young woman who found God in a bathroom and how he rescues her again and again even through some very difficult situations. My favorite quote from the book happens when there are killers outside the place she is hiding, calling her name and she is praying and has a vision of Jesus who says to her "mountains are moved with faith, Immaculee, but if faith were easy, all the mountains would be gone."
—Glenna
Shocking and inspiring. Ms. Ilibagiza tells the story of what happened to her during the Rwandan Holocaust. The narrative's glut of horrific violence made me sick at heart, but Ilibagiza's faith and personal strength pulled me through.These people are just like you and me: human, educated, desiring of a happy life, and it's stunning to see how quickly so much of this can go down the tubes when mob mentality, based on racial prejudice, sets in. And lest my dear review reader thinks that such things don't happen in America, let's pause for a moment to consider what happened in New Orleans during Katrina. Yes, Katrina, New Orleans, wasn't anything close to a Rwandan Holocaust, but I was shocked how many people, in the aftermath -- good religious, supposedly god-fearing people -- said things to me like, "Those people weren't smart enough to leave when they should have" or "Why should I send money, they're just a bunch of welfare cheats anyway", etc. Barbara Bush spoke for many when she said of the Houston Astrodome Refugess: "They're loving it here."It's exactly that brand of dismissive rationalization and downgrading of human suffering, based on class- and racial-prejudice, taking place over decades, that set the stage for the Hutu massacre of the Tutsis. The Nazi Holocaust took off from the nearly exact same foundation of social and class prejudice against the Jews.Anyway, I think that this should be required reading. Ms. Ilibagiza is remarkably brave, and you need to hear her story.
—Matt Evans
This book broke my heart over and over all the while strengthening my spirit. I learned that no matter what your situation you can put your trust in God's hands. Often times I feel like my own needs are trivial in comparison to what others may be dealing with and that I don't have a right to burden Heavenly Father with my miniscule problems and questions. But we all need direction, no matter what your circumstance and we all need support. This book was wonderful. I marveled at her amazing faith and her willingness to forgive and love. It inspired me to serve more willingly, to be more informed, and to try to put my life in God's hands.
—Kt
