Memory of Silence (PDF)

the state committed acts of genocide against the Mayan people.' Memory of Silence, from which those words are drawn, is the definitive, wrenching account of one of Latin America's bloodiest conflicts. Anyone concerned with human rights and war and the dark history of our time should read it."

Mark Danner, author, The Massacre at El Mozote and Stripping Bare the Body

"This is history at its most immediate. It will make readers think deeply especially those in the United States, which helped set off the Guatemalan cataclysm."

Stephen Kinzer, author, Bitter Fruit: The Story of the American Coup in Guatemala and Overthrow: America's Century of Regime Change from Hawaii to Iraq

"The extraordinary work of the Guatemalan truth commission resulted in one of the strongest reports of any truth commission to date. Open to any page: the accounts found here are excruciating to read, but impossible to turn away from, even if you wish to. The victim testimonies are searing; the commission's conclusions, of facts and responsibility, are brutally clear and often breathtaking. The full twelve-volume report is testament to the commission's close research, but in practical terms has been little accessible. Daniel Rothenberg deserves much thanks for offering this one-volume summary, published in both Spanish and English, including a useful essay that reviews the response to the report and relevant developments since its publication. It is powerful, and essential, reading."

Priscilla Hayner, author, Unspeakable Truths: Transitional Justice and the Challenge of Truth Commissions

"Memory of Silence is one of the most important documents about genocide during our time. In bringing to light the various facets of the Guatemalan government's eliminationist assault upon indigenous Maya, it highlights the political nature of genocide, the willfulness and cruelty of those implementing the destructive policies, and the individual human suffering that should never be lost sight of because of the vastness of the horror. Memory of Silence does a service for truth, historical understanding, and political and moral accountability. It is a searing and enlightening document that should be read by everyone."

Daniel Jonah Goldhagen, author of Worse Than War: Genocide, Eliminationism, and the Ongoing Assault on Humanity and Hitler's Willing Executioners: Ordinary Germans and the Holocaust