Machete Season
The Killers in Rwanda Speak
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4.1 • 11 Ratings
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- $12.99
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- $12.99
Publisher Description
A chilling and illuminating account of the Rwandan genocide, as told by the killers themselves.
In Machete Season, veteran foreign correspondent Jean Hatzfeld reports on his interviews with nine Hutu killers who participated in the 1994 Rwandan genocide, during which 800,000 Tutsis were massacred by their Hutu fellow citizens—about 10,000 a day, mostly hacked to death by machete. The killers, all friends from a single region, helped slaughter 50,000 out of their 59,000 Tutsi neighbors. Now in prison, some awaiting execution, they provide extraordinary testimony about the genocide they perpetrated.
With shocking candor, the men describe how the killing was easier than farming, recount their first murders, and reflect on their actions. Hatzfeld's lucid and humane meditation on their horrific testimony considers what this means for human morality and ethics. Suggesting that such atrocities may be within the realm of ordinary human conduct, this disturbing yet enlightening book offers a new perspective on the foundations of morality in the wake of crimes against humanity.
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This book features the testimony of 10 friends from the same village who spent day after day together, fulfilling orders to kill any Tutsi within their territory during the 1994 Rwandan genocide. While their anecdotes are shocking at first, they detail how an ordinary person with an everyday life in a farming village can be transformed into a killer. As one man explains, "if you must obey the orders of authorities, if you have been properly prepared, if you see yourself pushed and pulled, if you see the killing will be total and without disastrous consequences for yourself, you feel soothed and reassured." A reporter for Paris's Lib ration, Hatzfeld has a remarkable ability to pry into the killer's memory and conscience. One Hutu tells how "a pain pinched his heart" when confronted with an old Tutsi soccer teammate he was obligated to kill. Others describe the regrets or nightmares they have now that the genocide is over (and they are in prison). But for the most part, the interviews reveal the killers' na ve expectations for forgiveness and reconciliation once they are released. Hatzfeld offers an analysis of the psychology of the perpetrators and how the Rwandan genocide differs from other genocides in history. Steering clear of politics, this important book succeeds in offering the reader some grasp of how such unspeakable acts unfolded.
