Israeli Professor Sacrificed Himself for His Students

Haviv Rettig, JPost staff, AP/TN : Apr 17, 2007
Jerusalem Post

All the students in his classroom lived because of what he did.

Professor Liviu Librescu, 76-year-old Israeli immigrant and Holocaust survivor, sacrificed his life to save his students at Virginia Tech College by throwing himself in front of the shooter when the man tried to enter his classroom. (Photo: JPost.com)

"All the students lived because of him," student Asael Arad—also an Israeli—is quoted as saying.

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

According to the AP, Jerusalem Post report, Librescu was sent to a labor camp in Russia as a child, and was saved by the townspeople while his father was deported by the Nazis. Eventually he and his family immigrated to Virginia where they have lived since 1986.

Librescu's body will be flown back to Israel where his funeral will be held.

Oddly enough, it was on Holocaust Remembrance Day that this Holocaust survivor gave his life to save the lives of others.