Legacy Matters

Liviu Librescu, Professor and Hero

He lived through horror of the holocaust.  He refused to swear allegiance to and then escaped from Communist Romania.  When horror came to Virginia Tech, he saw it for the evil it was and sacrificed his life to save his  students.

Liviu Librescu, 76, a professor of aerospace and ocean engineering, died holding the door against horror.  He saved a classroom of students, giving them time to jump out the window, while he held the door shut with his body until the gunman, Seung-hui Cho, forced it open and shot him dead.

My father blocked the doorway with his body and asked the students to flee," Librescu's son, Joe Librescu, said Tuesday in a telephone interview from his home outside Tel Aviv. "Students started opening windows and jumping.

Librescu emigrated to Israel, then to the United States where he and his wife enjoyed two decades of peace and prosperity.

The story of his heroic act shot around the world.  But he is mourned by those who knew him and those who loved him, from the academic community in Romania where he was recognized with honorary degrees for his academic work, to his friends in Israel, and to his wife and son who, in their grief, must be immensely proud.

Our deep condolences and our salute to a brave hero.

Update.  Joe Katzman writes

In the Jewish community, the response to hearing of a loved one's death is "may his memory be a blessing." Prof. Librescu's clearly is, demonstrating what real matryrdom is about - dying not to kill others, but to save them.