We wish to inform you that tomorrow we will be killed with our

families
Philip Gourevitch
About the Book

We wish to inform you that tomorrow we will be killed with our families is a first person account
of the aftermath of the Rwandan genocide. Based on interviews with survivors and
perpetrators, Philip Gourevitchs book also examines the International Communitys response
to the genocide while it was taking place. The book takes its title from a note seeking help sent
by a group of pastors to the President of the Seventh-Day Adventist Churchs operations in
western Rwanda.

Discussion Questions

Please note that some of the discussion points below may act as spoilers for the books content

The book contains some upsetting content and is not suitable for younger readers.

1. what was the authors motivation in visiting Rwanda in 1995 and subsequently writing
this book?

2. why were the bodies in the Nyarubuye Church not buried? Is physical evidence required
to remember the genocide?

3. why were Hutus who opposed the Hutu Power ideology among the first to be killed?

4. had the victims of genocide been psychologically prepared for their deaths?

5. why did so many professional people (eg doctors, teachers etc) participate in the
genocide?

6. what is the significance of Tutsis being referred to as cockroaches?

7. what role did newspaper Kangura and radion station Radio Television Libres des Milles
Collines play in the genocide?

8. discuss what is meant by Genocide, after all, is an exercise in community building.

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 9. can you understand why so many Rwandans were keen to return to their country so
soon after the genocide?

10. is a single death a tragedy, a million deaths a statistic?

You can read further HMD resources about Rwanda including a timeline of Rwandan
history from colonial rule to present day
http://www.hmd.org.uk/resources/education/rwandan-timeline and life before, during and
after the genocide http://www.hmd.org.uk/genocides/rwanda.

You can also read about survivors Clare, http://www.hmd.org.uk/resources/survivor-

stories/rwandan-testimony-clare and Beata Uwazaninka,
http://www.hmd.org.uk/resources/survivor-stories/rwandan-testimony-beata-uwazaninka and
rescuer Sula Karuhimbi, http://www.hmd.org.uk/resources/education/sula-karuhimbi

Other resources include Children of Rwanda, poem by Reverend Francois Murenzi

http://www.hmd.org.uk/resources/poetry/children-of-rwanda-reverend-francois-murenzi

The speech given by General Romeo Dallaire at the HMD 2006 National Commemoration
http://www.hmd.org.uk/resources/extracts-for-events/general-romeo-dallaire

A podcast of survivor Jean Louis Mazimpaka recounting his

experience http://www.hmd.org.uk/resources/podcasts/survivor-stories-jean-louis-
mazimpaka.

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