(1/3) “My husband and I were shopkeepers at the time of the...

(1/3)  “My husband and I were shopkeepers at the time of the genocide.  We sold groceries on one side of the shop, and on the other side we had a bar.  On the night the president’s plane was shot down, the place was full. Everyone was dancing and listening to music.  We heard a large explosion but didn’t think anything of it.  Everyone just went back to dancing.  But the next morning people began shopping frantically.  We were selling food in large quantities.  When we were down to the last 100 kilograms of potatoes, I decided not to sell anymore.  I could tell that danger was coming.  Nobody came to the bar that night.  The streets were empty and quiet.  People were either planning violence, or they were hiding.  We were one of the first cities to be liberated during the genocide.  So almost immediately there was fierce fighting throughout the city.  The killers knew they had to murder as quickly as possible.  They were herding groups of Tutsis onto bridges and shooting them all.  My husband and I had a reputation for being friendly with Tutsis, so we were suspected of being traitors.  Our neighbors began watching us closely.  We feared for our lives.  We had a lot of property, so we knew there was a big incentive to murder us.  When the first Tutsis came to us looking for shelter, we turned them away.  But one night I was walking near the house, and I heard a close friend calling to me from a tree.  He was dying of hunger.  It had been raining all day.  I said to myself: ‘The property isn’t worth it,’ and I invited him inside.  I didn’t even inform my husband.”
(Kigali, Rwanda)