Carl Wilkens | Rescuer (1994 Genocide against the Tutsi in Rwanda) | USC Shoah Foundation — Transcript

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1. 0:00That was we knew that was the
2. 0:03premise that they were calling on them on but it was very clear that they were there to catch anybody who was Tutsi and
3. 0:11to kill them.
4. 0:12But you know when people were kind of forced out of their house to
5. 0:16stand road guard duty or to join in them that was the idea.
6. 0:21It's just this whole concept of who's the enemy and that's what was so you know so -
7. 0:28how is this mother and her child the enemy, but yeah.
8. 0:32You always have those those. You know one side. They're painting it this way and in reality the roadblock.
9. 0:38I mean I went through enough roadblocks with them,
10. 0:40you know checking my trunk and any people in my car checking my ID cards and stuff like that,
11. 0:45it was very clear.
12. 0:46And there are roadblocks where they were killing people so no there is no question the roadblocks were to
13. 0:53make sure that no Tutsis got away.
14. 0:57[Interviewer] Did you recognize people on the roadblocks you mentioned this one person the tailor of the neighborhood.
15. 1:03[Interviewer] Did it feel like the roadblocks were staffed by the people from the neighborhood?
16. 1:08[Interviewer] Or did you feel like it was a mix of people from different places?
17. 1:13It's a super populated area and so the only place
18. 1:18I really knew a guy was the tailor guy right there the other guy is down a block down from there,
19. 1:23they're not people that I had
20. 1:27daily or any kind of interaction so that I could really do they be familiar faces,
21. 1:31but then there be unfamiliar faces and were those unfamiliar faces from other neighborhoods ours?
22. 1:37I was told pretty much they were our neighborhood.
23. 1:40I mean the the first day out the guys who helped push my car out of the ditch -
24. 1:45I didn't have money with me right then. And I said guys up when I get home everybody knew I lived,
25. 1:50I'll pay you when I get home. That evening
26. 1:53they came and and I'm at home I had tried to find them and as I was driving back in that couldn't find anyone so
27. 1:59I went on home.
28. 2:00That evening later, there's a crowd gathering at the gate and
29. 2:05come to find out it's kind of the crowd is growing and what's going on and kind of out these guys had come to our
30. 2:10gate and our neighborhood militia were in confrontation with this militia from two blocks away,
31. 2:16what are you doing in our turf?
32. 2:18And then it was like some of our people were we're in defense of us and so on the one hand it seems like
33. 2:26some of them are not supporting us and then the next moment they're sort of in defense of us and so it crazy dynamics.