Yifat Bachrach-Ron

On 6 April 1994, Rwandan President Juvénal Habyarimana, a member of the Hutu ethnic group, was killed when his plane was shot down. Responsibility for the attack remains a mystery, but Habyarimana’s murder signaled the beginning of the three-month Rwandan genocide, during which at least 800,000 members of the Tutsi ethnic group were murdered.

Since the genocide ended, Rwandan society has been undergoing a process of rehabilitation, and survivors of the massacre are still trying to overcome their sense of trauma and loss. Many survivors see an affinity between their tragedy and that of the Holocaust, and attach great importance to interpersonal contact with the Jewish people and the State of Israel. This attitude led to the contact made several months ago by Yolande Mukagasana, head of “Nyamirambo”—a Tutsi NGO based in Belgium and Rwanda—with Yad Vashem. Together with the Education department of the French Memorial de la Shoah, headed by Dr. Joel Kotek, Mukagasana asked if members of different organizations involved in memorializing the Rwandan genocide could come to Yad Vashem to learn about Holocaust remembrance in Israel as well as educational activities related to the Holocaust and its consequences worldwide that might serve as a model for similar efforts on the part of the Tutsi tribe.

The seminar, held in November at the International School for Holocaust Studies, brought together Rwandan intellectuals, judges, journalists, academics and others—all of whom are involved on a daily basis in perpetuating the memory of those massacred and in rebuilding Rwandan society. “We aimed to expose the participants to our educational activity and other methods in memorializing the Holocaust,” seminar coordinator Dr. Alain Michel explains. “The seminar was adapted to address the issues that trouble Rwandan society today, with time for joint learning via encounters, generating a fruitful dialogue.”

During the seminar, School staff presented Yad Vashem’s educational approach and teaching methods. “The Rwandan victims’ situation is problematic for two reasons,” explains Dr. Doron Avraham, Head of the School’s European Department. “First, they are all still overwhelmed by the experience of the catastrophe and so it is difficult to work toward shaping memory. Second, the murderers and the victims belong to the same nation and are both responsible for rehabilitating the country. This situation is not at all similar to what took place in Israel, nor the efforts invested in shaping the collective memory of the Holocaust.”

A particularly moving meeting took place between the participants—survivors of the Rwandan genocide—and Holocaust survivors. On this occasion, the latter came more to listen than to talk; in turn, their attentiveness encouraged the Tutsis to tell their personal stories, in some cases for the first time. “The meeting with Holocaust survivors helped me more than anything to cope with the trauma I experienced,” says Yolande Mukagasana. “Other people, even psychologists, know how to pity. These meetings helped me understand what I really feel. Holocaust survivor Dr. Ehud Loeb participated in the encounter: “I sat across from a beautiful young woman, who spoke quietly and calmly,” he recalls. “‘I lost my husband and all of my children,’ she told me. I looked at her and suddenly saw myself—it left an indelible impression on me.”

A panel discussion was also held on: “The Genocide in Rwanda – Have We Learned Anything from the Holocaust?” in cooperation with the Open University. Participants included Chairman of the Yad Vashem Directorate Avner Shalev, Yolande Mukagasana, Yad Vashem Academic Advisor Prof. Yehuda Bauer, and the Open University’s Prof. Binyamin Neiberger and Prof. Yair Oron.

Dr. Avraham plans to take the newfound contact further. “We hope the seminar created the basis for ongoing cooperation, in the areas of remembrance and education. We have already held preliminary discussions regarding a follow-up seminar to take place in Kigali, the capital of Rwanda, with the participation of Yad Vashem staff.”
 

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