Hero from Rwanda genocide speaks at History Museum
By K. Curtis Lyle
For the St. Louis American
Paul Rusesabagina, who spoke to a sold-out crowd at the Missouri History Museum on Saturday, is a modern-day hero.
From early April to late June of 1994, as his country, Rwanda, fell into mass insanity – Hutu extremists murdered more than 800,000 moderate Hutu and Tutsi citizens – Rusesabagina remained a mountain of stability.
His actions saved 1,200 people. By sheltering them on the grounds of the luxury hotel he managed, he created a mythic story that has appeared in the world press and in the acclaimed film Hotel Rwanda, in which Don Cheadle’s portrayal of Rusesabagina became a benchmark for the art of acting.
At Saturday’s event, Donn Johnson, director of communications for the Missouri Historical Society, set the tone by stating that the theme of the lecture series – “Money, Race and Power” – was one that few people were willing to discuss honestly.
Robert Archibald, president of the Historical Society, followed with an in- depth look at the Rwandan tragedy and a dash of historical perspective.
Rusesabagina then entered from stage right, wearing a beautiful salmon jacket offset by a lemon yellow shirt, and was greeted by a standing ovation.
He first related the history of Rwanda before the arrival of Europeans. This was important to understanding the ethnic strife that exploded in April 1994.
He recalled that Hutu, Tutsi and Batwa tribesmen and women had lived in relative harmony before the arrival of a German colonizing contingent in the 1880s. According to Rusesabagina, the ethnic differences the Germans (and, later, Belgians) exploited used as a classic divide-and-conquer ploy were of almost no consequence to the Rwandans themselves.
Rusesabagina mixed his narrative history of Rwanda with his personal story of the 1994 genocide. His exquisite storytelling and ease kept his audience rapt and attentive during the entire 90-minute presentation. His emotional connection to murdered friends and neighbors, to the thousands of Rwandans who were maimed and raped, and especially to what he called a “lost generation” of orphaned children was evident in the periodic cracking of his voice and glaze of his eyes.
He spoke most forcefully of what he called Rwanda’s “missed appointment” with history. He called the independence movement in Rwanda, culminating in the 1959 Hutu Revolution, the most palpable opportunity for Rwandans to reconcile their differences and begin a democratic dialogue leading to a viable modern state.
In 1973 and 1990, he said, a political merry-go-round of expulsions and re-entries by clashing forces again missed the opportunity for reconciliation and set the stage for the eventual tragedy that would become Rwanda.
His own story of saving fellow citizens was filled with the stuff of fiction, but it was all true. The desperate tactics of pleading with military, bribing militia members, making phone calls at all times of day and night to hotel owners in Belgium and influential politicians in France nearly broke his will.
He bartered money, gold, cigars and aged bottles of wine he had hoarded in the hotel he managed for the lives of strangers seeking refuge amid the chaos. No one housed at his hotel died!
In perhaps the most moving, eloquent and terrifying moment of his narrative, he spoke of going south from the city of Kigali to the countryside, where his wife’s mother and family lived, only to find them all slaughtered.
Finally, the complete horror of the conflict had come home to him. That day of horror in the space and solitude of the country awakened him to the overwhelming reach of the tragedy.
In an interview with the American after his presentation, Rusesabagina still managed to speak of hope and the future. He spoke wistfully of the need for an African leader who would set an example of generosity, reconciliation and love for his people.
“Desmond Tutu is a man I have spoken to and admire,” he said. “He is an example of an African leader.”
He also talked about a trip he’d made to Darfur, in the Sudan, where a conflict between black villagers and Arab militia looked all too familiar. “I see the same things there that hurt my country,” he said. “It’s the deep problem of modern Africa.”
He spoke of the paradox of traveling through Western, industrialized countries asking for humanitarian and economic assistance from the same governments that have manipulated and exploited his people. But he has a will that won’t let him stop working and speaking for those who have lost their own will and their own way.
As he said, “I hope this will be a wake-up call, not only for Rwanda but for the whole world.”
