Bisesero is a mountainous region in western Rwanda and became one of the major sites of Tutsi resistance during the genocide. Thousands of Tutsi from surrounding areas fled into the Bisesero hills, using the steep terrain to fight off attacks with stones, sticks, and incredible determination. 

From April through June 1994, Interahamwe militias and government soldiers launched repeated assaults. Despite being outnumbered and out-armed, the Tutsi held out for weeks—longer than almost anywhere else in the country.

In late June, French soldiers encountered desperate survivors who came out of hiding and begged for help. The troops then withdrew, exposing thise who thought they were save to be slaughtered. When the French finally returned, only around 1,300–2,000 people remained alive out of an estimated 40,000–50,000 who had sought refuge there.

Today Bisesero is remembered as a place of both catastrophic loss and extraordinary resistance.