From April to July 1994, the world watched as genocide unfolded in Rwanda. A million people died as neighbors brutally attacked their neighbors with clubs and machetes.

Thirty years later, the horror of the Rwandan genocide endures, but so does the humanity and bravery of Paul Rusesabagina, whose story that was captured in the 2004 movie Hotel Rwanda.

The real Rusesabagina recounted some of the details when he talked to All Things Considered host Juana Summers recently from his home in San Antonio.

“I happened to be a hotelier in 1994, and I had 1,268 people who happened to come to hide in my hotel — Hutus and Tutsis. And none of them was killed. None of them was beaten in the hotel from the beginning to the end,” he said.

Fast-forward to present day and Rusesabagina’s story has changed drastically. He hasn’t lived in Rwanda since 1996 but still cares about his country and has spoken out about the government there.

“I became an enemy. That experience was just like finding oneself in a hell where you are tortured,” he said.

Rusesabagina says he was kidnapped, tried and imprisoned in Rwanda for two years and seven months. After intervention from the U.S. and other countries, Rusesabagina was eventually released. At the time, he says he electronically signed a letter promising not to criticize the government.