"Ordinary Man" saved hundreds in Rwandan genocide

Paul Rusesabagina was used to calm luxury, as the manager of the finest hotel in his native Rwanda. His last name means "warrior who disperses the enemies." And that's exactly what Rusesabagina did for 100 harrowing days in Rwanda, following the death of the country's president in a plane crash in April, 1994. The United Nations estimates 800,000 people died in the ensuing genocide, as one ethnic group -- the Hutus -- took up arms against the minority Tutsis.

During those horrific days, Rusesabagina -- himself a Hutu -- dispersed angry bands of killers while safely harboring more than 1,200 Rwandans, both Tutsis and Hutus, who sought refuge inside his hotel. He dispersed those enemies unarmed, largely by sticking to his training as a hotel manager, keeping his wits about him, and being wily when he needed to be. His story was made into the 2004 movie "Hotel Rwanda." Now Paul Rusesabagina has written about those dark days in a new autobiography: "An Ordinary Man."

He talked to Minnesota Public Radio's Tom Crann.

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