Review: We wish to inform you that tomorrow We Will Be Killed with Our Families by Philip Gourevitch

The Blurb

In April of 1994, the government of Rwanda called on everyone in the Hutu majority to kill everyone in the Tutsi minority. Over the next three months, 800,000 Tutsis were murdered in the most unambiguous case of genocide since Hitler's war against the Jews. Philip Gourevitch's haunting work is an anatomy of the killings in Rwanda, a vivid history of the genocide's background, and an unforgettable account of what it means to survive in its aftermath.

My Review

This book broke my heart and set my mind on a rampage of disturbing thoughts that still gives me nightmares. The writing was exemplary. A historical story has never held my interest to such an extent before. The work was gory in places, but most of it wasn’t. It told the story of not just the genocide of the Tutsis, but the history of Rwanda and how they had gotten to the point of having their own people slaughter each other because they had been conditioned to do so over time. Hint: As with the damage done to many African countries it all started with colonialism.

The book made me sad while questioning what I would do if I were a Hutu at that time. Would I be able to bludgeon my neighbors to death because I was told to? Would I risk my life by not killing anyone at all or saving others? The questions kept coming. I can never know the answer, because unless placed in the same situation during that time, they are unanswerable. 

May nothing like that ever happen in the world again. Peace only.   

I give this book five out of five chocolate bars.

I purchased my copy from the Ghana Must Read Book Club.