Nijenahagera, Sylvestre
Summary of Oral History
Oral history of Sylvestre Nijenahagera. After only four months of marriage, Sylvestre Nijenahagera said the 1972 Genocide of Burundi erupted and killings began to creep into his country. He evacuated Burundi in hopes of finding safety in Tanzania. He was sent back to Burundi because he said his name was written on a list of those who should be killed. He said due to a clerical error, he was marked as dead and this mistake saved his life. Nijenahagera escaped a brutal death by hiding on the roof of a church. He said without the help of the church, and a clerical error, he would not be alive today to share his story of survival.