Niyiragira, Venant

Niyiragira, Venant

Venant Niyiragira

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Interviewee Age

69

Interviewee Gender

Male

Interviewee Ethnicity

Hutu

Geographical Location(s) during the genocide

Gitega

Interview Date

2025

Summary of Oral History

Venant Niyiragira was a fifth grader when the 1972 Genocide of Burundi began. He vividly remembers returning home from school and hearing that his father had been killed. Niyiragira said a close friend of the family witnessed a truck filled with soldiers force his father into the vehicle. The same friend told Niyiragira it might be safer for him to wear a dress as males were prevalently targeted by the militia. Niyiragira said at this time, soldiers were using hammers to smash their victim’s skulls in half before dumping their bodies, dead or alive, into mass graves. He and his siblings fled to the Congo to escape the violence. They slept outside for days until the Congolese took pity on them and welcomed them into a refugee camp. Niyiragira said he could never return to school again because he had too much hate in his heart.

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Niyiragira, Venant

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