Hidden in a tree to which she had run while soldiers were distracted, Amaya watched and listened as government soldiers raped women, then killed men, women, and children by machine-gunning them, then burning their bodies.From Madness to Hope: The 12-Year War in El Salvador, Part Four ("Cases and patterns of violence"), Chapter Three ("Massacres of peasants by the armed forces"), El Salvador Truth Commission Report, from the United States Institute of Peace. Retrieved 2008-05-04. While hiding, she prayed to God that if he let her live, she would tell the world what took place there. She kept her promise. Amaya lost not only her neighbors, but also her husband, Domingo Claros, whose decapitation she saw; her 9-year-old son, Cristino, who cried out to her, "Mama, they're killing me. They've killed my sister. They're going to kill me."; and her daughters María Dolores, María Lilian, and María Isabel, ages 5 years, 3 years, and 8 months old.Douglas Martin. "Rufina Amaya, 64, dies; Salvador survivor," March 9, 2007. Retrieved 2008-05-04. The only one of her children with Claros who was not killed in the massacre was their daughter Fidelia, who was not in the village at the time.
