Book Review: A Time for Machetes

Following the Rwandan Genocide against the Tutsi in 1994, which claimed the lives of over a million Tutsis and moderate Hutus, is a harrowing read which tells in the survivors’ own words the horrors of the genocide including surviving massacres in churches, hiding under dead bodies, or spending days hiding in swamps as their former friends and neighbors scoured the area with machetes seeking to kill them. This book also gives a voice to the perpetrators of the genocide: ten men who are serving time in a prison for their part in the genocide. As a prolific reader of books relating to the Rwandan genocide, my expectations on picking up this book were quite specific. What the perpetrators of the Rwandan genocide did was unthinkable; it defied words and stretched the bounds of the human imagination.I hoped to gain some insight into what the killers had been thinking, what had motivated them, and how they justified their own actions. I expected to read that the men had been caught up in the frenzy and organization of the time and that they were somewhat horrified by their actions today. I expected the passage of time and life in prison to have inspired a remorseful attitude and an appreciation of the human cost and loss of life resulting from their actions. I was disappointed.There is no doubt that this is an excellent book, and I have no hesitation giving it five stars and recommending that people read it. Hatzfeld’s brave and tireless enquiry has given us an extremely rare insight into the mind of a genocidal killer. The questions that he asks, the commentary, and background information that he provides - and the process he undergoes to gain the killers’ trust - provides an invaluable resource that we simply have not had with other genocides. In the end though, it seems that my expectation of remorse and reconciliation was beyond naive.