Memory serves as the bedrock of individual and collective identities, anchoring societies and nations in the turbulent seas of history.

In the aftermath of genocidal atrocities, where the very fabric of society is shredded by blinding hate and barbarity, memory stands as a bastion of resistance against oblivion.

For it is through memory that we honor the victims, learn from the past, and chart a path towards reconciliation and renewal.

As the timeless George Santayana adage goes, "Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it." Memory, therefore, is not merely an act of nostalgia, but a sacred duty, a beacon of light guiding men and nations through the darkest of times to a point of historical and moral clarity, as key safeguards against repeating past horrors.

This week, Rwanda pauses to remember for the 31st time. The mood of the moment has inspired the following poem:

Rise and Conquer

As we pause

At this hour;

Surrendering

To the embrace

Of their memory;

For that is all

We can do,

The torrent of pain

Rages on like rain;

A tempest's cruel hand

Tearing at the tender

Shawls of our hopes;

And the waves of doubt,

Relentless and unkind,

Shred our usual grace;

Igniting flights

Of arrogant despair

The echoes haunt,

And the nightmares cling

To us who bore

The brutal brunt;

Who witnessed

The dance of death;

Heard the chilling screams,

And carry living scars

Inflicted by knives of hate.

Yet, as we bow in memory, Genocide deniers

Engage in mockery

And mourn, our killers

Work to erase the past

By twisting our truth,

Hoping lies will last;

But we are marching forth

Dancing to a defiant beat;

A generation in full youth

Ready to absorb the heat

And light

The heartlessness

Of their dark night.

We bow in memory,

As deniers grin gleefully

At our fragile bodies

Weighed down by loss,

Yet, grit emerges

From bitter ground

With a steely grace;

A stubborn echo

Of promises of a living space

Where all are equal.

The tremors linger,

Still felt on every breath,

But optimism surges,

Promising their death

Schemes under memory purges;

For to remember,

Is to learn

To learn

Is to rise

To rise

Is to conquer

And escape

From their cage

Of hateful blight,

And into the light.

A poem by Williams Nkurunziza, Rwanda’s former Ambassador to Turkey

April 2025