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75-year-old Israeli professor and Holocaust survivor was killed in the massacre at Virginia Tech on Holocaust Memorial Day, Monday when he leaped between the gunner and his students.
According to eye witnesses the heroic action of Liviu Librescu, a lecturer in the Department of Engineering Science and Mechanics, saved the lives of an unknown number of students in his class. Asael Arad, an Israeli Virginia Tech student told Army Radio that "all the students lived -- because of him,"
Librescu's wife told the NRG Web site that her husband had loved his job with "all his heart and his soul."
Librescu was a gifted scientist in Communist Romania, and the government tried to prevent him from moving to Israel. He was eventually allowed to leave the country after then Israeli prime minister Menachem Begin made a special appeal to President Nicolae Ceausescu, Ynetnews reported.
Librescu immigrated to Israel from Romania in 1978 but moved to Virginia in 1986 for his sabbatical and had remained their ever since. The professor has two sons, one named Arieh who lives in Israel, and another, Joe, who resides in the US.
Librescu was described by his colleagues as a "true gentleman."
He was one of 32 people killed in what has been described as the biggest single shooting attack in US history. The attacker, who has yet to be positively identified, but who has been described by some witnesses as a young Asian man, went on a killing spree in two attacks. It is unknown whether the gunman was a student and in investigators gave no motive for the attack.
Virginia Tech reported shootings on two sides of the 2,600-acre campus, the first at about 7:15 a.m. at a co- Ed residential hall called West Ambler Johnston, and resuming about two hours later at Norris Hall, an engineering building.
According to students, at around 7:15 a.m. the gunman appeared in West Ambler Johnston and began searching rooms for his ex-girlfriend. He killed two people, Ryan Clark, and a freshman identified by students as Emily Hilscher.
In the second attack, the gunman shot professors and students in classrooms and hallways of the engineering building, killing around 30 people.
The carnage ended Monday with the gunman shooting himself in the face. There were 33 deaths in total.
A Tribute to Liviu Librescu
My Stand A Tribute to Liviu Librescu By Philip Selz
In the darkest times we've seen, I was sent into the camps As I smelled the stench of burning flesh, I knew my kin were gone Survival was my only thought, I knew I must come through But I didnt know the reason that my living must go on
And when the war had ended, liberation finally came And I grew to be a man and shortly after took a wife And we raised our kids in Israel and we did the best we could And we lived for those who died and worked to make a useful life
Then a teaching job came to me in America one day And I thought that building new young minds was destiny for me So I traveled to Virginia and I made a brand new start And I taught engineering in this homeland of the free.
Now I hear the hallways screaming as shots are fired there And I hear the terror in the screams and understand their plight So I bar the door from danger and I tell my students Run! And as the bullets breach the door I know that I must fight
And in these final moments as my life is seeping out I think back over 60 years and finally understand My own salvation now makes sense as children flee and live I was saved that day to save this day, Ive finally made my stand.
According to eye witnesses the heroic action of Liviu Librescu, a lecturer in the Department of Engineering Science and Mechanics, saved the lives of an unknown number of students in his class. Asael Arad, an Israeli Virginia Tech student told Army Radio that "all the students lived -- because of him,"
Librescu's wife told the NRG Web site that her husband had loved his job with "all his heart and his soul."
Librescu was a gifted scientist in Communist Romania, and the government tried to prevent him from moving to Israel. He was eventually allowed to leave the country after then Israeli prime minister Menachem Begin made a special appeal to President Nicolae Ceausescu, Ynetnews reported.
Librescu immigrated to Israel from Romania in 1978 but moved to Virginia in 1986 for his sabbatical and had remained their ever since. The professor has two sons, one named Arieh who lives in Israel, and another, Joe, who resides in the US.
Librescu was described by his colleagues as a "true gentleman."
He was one of 32 people killed in what has been described as the biggest single shooting attack in US history. The attacker, who has yet to be positively identified, but who has been described by some witnesses as a young Asian man, went on a killing spree in two attacks. It is unknown whether the gunman was a student and in investigators gave no motive for the attack.
Virginia Tech reported shootings on two sides of the 2,600-acre campus, the first at about 7:15 a.m. at a co- Ed residential hall called West Ambler Johnston, and resuming about two hours later at Norris Hall, an engineering building.
According to students, at around 7:15 a.m. the gunman appeared in West Ambler Johnston and began searching rooms for his ex-girlfriend. He killed two people, Ryan Clark, and a freshman identified by students as Emily Hilscher.
In the second attack, the gunman shot professors and students in classrooms and hallways of the engineering building, killing around 30 people.
The carnage ended Monday with the gunman shooting himself in the face. There were 33 deaths in total.
A Tribute to Liviu Librescu
My Stand A Tribute to Liviu Librescu By Philip Selz
In the darkest times we've seen, I was sent into the camps As I smelled the stench of burning flesh, I knew my kin were gone Survival was my only thought, I knew I must come through But I didnt know the reason that my living must go on
And when the war had ended, liberation finally came And I grew to be a man and shortly after took a wife And we raised our kids in Israel and we did the best we could And we lived for those who died and worked to make a useful life
Then a teaching job came to me in America one day And I thought that building new young minds was destiny for me So I traveled to Virginia and I made a brand new start And I taught engineering in this homeland of the free.
Now I hear the hallways screaming as shots are fired there And I hear the terror in the screams and understand their plight So I bar the door from danger and I tell my students Run! And as the bullets breach the door I know that I must fight
And in these final moments as my life is seeping out I think back over 60 years and finally understand My own salvation now makes sense as children flee and live I was saved that day to save this day, Ive finally made my stand.
