A Memoir · 1994 Genocide Against the Tutsi
Rugeshi Hill, Where Humanity was Buried
A story of loss and resilience
By Apollinaire Munyaneza
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A Memoir · 1994 Genocide Against the Tutsi
A story of loss and resilience
By Apollinaire Munyaneza
The Book
In this powerful memoir, Apollinaire Munyaneza shares compelling accounts of the horrors he and his family endured during the 1994 Genocide Against the Tutsi. While most writings about the Genocide focus on the extermination period between April and July 1994, Apollinaire's family endured targeted violence amounting to the acts of Genocide since 1990, largely because the Western Province was home to key architects of the Genocide—civilians as well as high-ranking military officials.
In this powerful memoir, Apollinaire Munyaneza shares compelling accounts of the horrors he and his family endured during the 1994 Genocide Against the Tutsi. While most writings about the Genocide focus on the extermination period between April and July 1994, Apollinaire's family endured targeted violence amounting to the acts of Genocide since 1990, largely because the Western Province was home to key architects of the Genocide—civilians as well as high-ranking military officials.
During the period between April and July 1994, Apollinaire's family endured targeted violence amounting to the acts of Genocide since 1990, largely because the Western Province was home to key architects of the Genocide — civilians as well as high-ranking military officials.
Today, the hills of Rugeshi stand as silent witnesses to what transpired. For Apollinaire, writing this memoir was not only an act of personal reckoning — it was a moral imperative. The world must know. The truth must endure.
The Author
Apollinaire Munyaneza was born and raised in Nyabihu District (formerly Nkuli Commune) in Rwanda's Western Province in a loving and harmonious family.
Despite surviving the horrors of genocide, Apollinaire found the strength to rebuild his life with resilience. For him, survival is not just a reminder of how humanity can be lost under bad leadership — it is also a responsibility.
"To truly honor those who perished, survivors must strive to live with purpose and rise beyond the ordinary."
What you'll discover
01
The devastating impact of the Genocide on one family — both parents, a brother, five sisters, and hundreds of extended family members on Rugeshi Hill.
02
Evidence that the Genocide was not a spontaneous eruption of anger, but a meticulously planned, state-orchestrated atrocity that began years before 1994.
03
How a survivor found the strength to rebuild his life, honouring those who perished by living with purpose and rising beyond the ordinary.
"
The hill did not forget. Neither could I. To speak is not to wound again, it is to refuse that the dead were never there.
Apollinaire Munyaneza
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A story that must be told. A history that must never be forgotten.