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FROM BLOODSHED TO HOPE IN BURUNDI

Our Embassy Years during Genocide

By Ambassador Robert Krueger and
Kathleen Tobin Krueger
Foreword by Desmond Tutu, Archbiship Emeritus and Nobel Peace Prize Laurate

Focus on American History Series
Edited by Don E. Carleton

University of Texas Press
334 pages, 6 x 9 inches
49 black and white illustrations
8 page color section, index
ISBN 978-0-292-71486-1
hardcover with dustjacket
2007

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In 1994, while nations everywhere stood idly by, 800,000 people were slaughtered in eight weeks in Rwanda. Arriving as U.S. Ambassador to neighboring Burundi a few weeks later, Bob Krueger began drawing international attention to the genocide also proceeding in Burundi, where he sought to minimize the killing and to preserve its fledgling democratic government from destruction by its own army. From Bloodshed to Hope in Burundi is a compelling eyewitness account of both a horrific and persistent genocide and of the ongoing efforts of many courageous individuals to build a more just society.

Krueger and his wife Kathleen graphically document the slaughter occurring all around them, as well as their repeated efforts to get the U.S. government and the international community to take notice and take action. Bob Krueger reconstructs the events of the military coup that precipitated the Burundi genocide and describes his efforts to uncover the truth by digging up graves and interviewing survivors. In straightforward and powerful language, Kathleen Krueger recounts her family's experience living amid civil war, including when she faced down a dozen AK-47-wielding African soldiers to save the life of a household worker.

From Bloodshed to Hope in Burundi shines a piercing light on a genocide that has gone largely unreported, and identifies those responsible for it. It also offers hope that as the truth emerges and the perpetrators are brought to account, the people of Burundi will at last achieve peace and reconciliation.

Robert Krueger has served as a U.S. Congressman, U.S. Senator, U.S. Ambassador on three occasions, and Special Representative of the U.S. Secretary of State.

Kathleen Tobin Krueger's humanitarian and civic involvement spans the globe. She currently serves on the City Council of New Braunfels, Texas, where the Kruegers reside.

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