Immaculee Ilibagiz Influence On Forgiveness

“The following is my story of what happened in Rwanda in 1994. It’s a story of betrayal, failure, naiveté, indifference, hatred, genocide, war, inhumanity and evil. ”

As I began to hear the testimony, I recalled all the various wars that have created us into what we are today. Brother against brother, kings that ruled the land, and dictators that overtook anything they desired. Survivors from various disasters have had a chance to let others hear and feel what they have gone through when they were younger like us. Cesia Kingston, one of the many survivors of the disastrous Holocaust, shares her many experiences throughout her life. Some too precious to forget, but others filled with pain and sorrow. Through every word Cesia spoke, they filled my thoughts like a wave, but at the same moment I remembered the times when pain and fear overtook me.

Left to Tell is the story of Immaculée Ilibagiza, she tells of how she was able to find comfort and peace, amidst the terrible Rwandan Holocaust, by forgiving those who murdered so many of her family and friends. In the book, she wrote about the relief she felt when she

Forgiveness have important medicinal effect on health. Researchers and study have shown that people who forgive have less chances of health issues like heart attack and brain tumor. “People who hold tolerance views of human nature and don’t seem to nurse grieveness unduly tend to have blood pressures in the normal range” (Callwood, J. 2007, p. 153). Writer in the above findings tells her readers the medicinal effect of tolerance. She beautifully explains the positive effect of forgiveness in contrast with unforgiveness where her contrasting finding says “Unforgiving people, some studies show, are three times more likely to have heart diseases as people who don’t carry grudges”(Callwood, J. 2007, p.153). Writer here is addressed to people who cannot or do not forgive and tells them how harmful holding grudges are to their health. She beautifully explains the finding by telling first the negative effect of not forgiving in comparison to

Prisoners of the Holocaust spoke not only of religious faith disintegrating, but also how their faith in humanity depleted. Wiesel recounts how one prisoner said, “I’ve got more faith in Hitler than in anyone else. He’s the only one who’s kept his promises, all his promises, to the Jewish people” (77). The only person that the prisoners can put any of their trust into is the one who is slowly killing them. Another instance of loss of faith in humanity is when Wiesel witnesses the son of a rabbi he knew run away from his father. The son tries to escape his dying father so that he no longer has to take care of him and can selfishly live on. After watching this Wiesel finds himself praying to a god he no longer believes in, “My God, Lord of the Universe, give me the strength to never do what Rabbi Eliahou’s son has done” (87). No matter how tough it is to go on, Wiesel will not give up. He will continue to live through the miserable conditions of the Holocaust just so that he does not give up on his father, the only person he has faith left

In her book, Immaculée Ilibagiza shares the power of faith in God through her moving experience of the Rwandan genocide. God saved her life for a reason. “He left me to tell my story to others and show as many people as possible the leading power of his Love and Forgiveness” (208-09). Her book proves that “with God all things are possible”. Her objective is not to give a historical account of Rwanda and/or of the genocide. She gives her own story. She attests that through God’s help, forgiveness is possible – even to those who killed her parents. Her book is meant to help people to let go of the chains of hatred and anger, and be able to truly live in God who is love. Left to Tell is a breathtaking book that proves the fact that “the love

Religion was one of the bigger subjects in both of these stories. Immaculee held onto her faith as a Christian very closely. As a matter of fact it was a Pastor by the name of Pastor Murinzi who she fled to during the time when her father leading Tutsi men to fight against the Hutu

What God would let his people be burned, suffocated to death, separated from their families, and starved to death? Many people persecuted and sent to concentration camps questioned this thought. It was near impossible to keep faith at this time of torture. They felt as if God had abandoned his people, left to suffer the cruel events of the Holocaust. Elie Wiesel grew up as a faithful and deeply spiritual young person. For a person of his age, he was greatly curious by his Jewish faith, he pursued Moishe the Beadle to deepen his spiritual understanding. Upon experiencing the torture of the Holocaust, Elie Wiesel lost his faith completely. He found it impossible to believe that a God could allow his people to experience such torture. Upon surviving the Holocaust Elie Wiesel realized that faith is crucial to surviving without losing character. The hardships that Elie Wiesel faced in the concentration camps lead him to lose faith, until after when realizing it was crucial to keep faith in God despite the horrendous events of the Holocaust.

During World War II, a Czechoslovakian Jewish girl named Edith Singer was able to survive the holocaust by her faith. Not only was she able to keep herself a live, but she also was able to push, and help other’s to survive. Edith does not lose her faith in God, and is able to transfer her faith into other’s that she cares for. Her faith also leads her to keep her mental health during the horrible times she and other Jewish people went through. The Nazi soldier’s did not give the Jewish people any type of mercy which made the holocaust even more horrific than anyone can imagine.

The author demonstrates that an adverse atmosphere can cause a person to relinquish their faith. The author establishes the purpose through the sufferings of Moishe the Beadle, Wiesel’s torment and plight of other prisoners in the concentration camp.

Faith is supposed to be something that one allows to guide them through everything. They’re supposed to believe, in good times and bad, that whatever God or Gods they believe in will get them through anything. Unfortunately, faith can be put to the test when one is placed in harsh, difficult situations. The victims of the Holocaust lived with this intense struggle to maintain faith to the worst extent. Elie Wiesel’s personal experience with the struggle to maintain faith is conveyed in his novel, Night.

Genocide, it is not just murder, it is extermination. The world has lost an abounding amount of lives due to the vicious acts of genocide. There have been many ‘preventive’ measures being performed such as the conference in Montreal held in 2007. At said conference the United Nations (officials) not only spoke about preventing genocide, they also listened to 75 year-old, Marika Nene. Nene experienced the anti-gypsy massacres that occurred during World War II. “I had no choice. I had to give myself up to the soldiers (...) they violated me. I still have nightmares about it.” Genocide has affected millions of lives and Marika Nene is just one of them. Many have often inquired the following question, ‘can the world resolve the problem of genocide?’

Through Immaculee’s eyes, to be saved is to have an event like the Rwandan Genocide occur, but not have to experience the travesty in person. Aimable, the brother of Immaculee, was saved by God

Because the genocide was, “conducted in ethnic terms” (Jones, pg. 16), I pray to God that I Immaculee can teach you my greatest gift to love your enemies for they are you.

As one of three women in Rwanda's Parliament during the genocide, Agnes had the opportunity to reconcile her country’s citizens. While a courageous man would have stood