Susan Thomson, Whispering Truth to Power (University of Wisconsin Press, 2013)
This spring, I taught a class loosely called \u201cThe Holocaust through Primary Sources\u201d to a small group of selected students. I started one class by asking them the deceptively simple question \u201cWhen did the Holocaust end?\u201d The first consensus answer was \u201c1945.\u201d After some discussion, the students changed their answer. The new consensus was simple. It hasn\u2019t yet.\n\nThis came to mind when reading Susan Thomson\u2018s powerful new book Whispering Truth to Power: Everyday Resistance to Reconciliation in Postgenocide Rwanda\xa0(University of Wisconsin Press, 2013). While writing the book, \xa0Thomson talked at length with a variety of \u2018ordinary\u2019 people in Rwanda. \xa0Their stories remind us that recovery, both societal and personal, from the events of 1994, has been both halting and problematic. \xa0Her account, like that of Jennie Burnet, also draws our attention to the ways governments\u2019 efforts to shape and reshape cultures of remembrance impact individuals decades after violence is over.\n\nWith historians and others paying more and more attention to the aftermaths of mass violence, Thomson\u2019s book sheds light both on issues specific to Rwanda and more generally to the history of remembrance and reconciliation.\nLearn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices\nSupport our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/genocide-studies