75 year old Holocaust Survivor shot dead as he blocked door so students could jump out windows

[Herman Munster]

http://abcnews.go.com/US/story?id=3049678&page=1

April 17, 2007 — An elderly professor and two students at Virginia Tech are being hailed as heroes today for helping to stop the gunman from killing more people during yesterday's rampage.Liviu Librescu, a 75-year-old Holocaust survivor and professor of mechanical engineering, Zach Petkewicz, a senior, and Derek O'Dell, a 20-year-old sophomore all blocked the gunman from entering their classrooms at Virginia Tech's Norris Hall during yesterday's rampage. Friends and family of Librescu weren't surprised to learn that he was a hero and helped save his students' lives during the shooting massacre by Seung-Hui Cho.

The 75-year-old professor and Holocaust survivor was in the middle of teaching one of his popular classes at Norris Hall yesterday when Cho tried to enter the room. As his students start jumping out the windows of the second-floor room, Librescu stayed behind to block the door, according to his students. He was killed by the gunman.

Librescu's son, Joe, says that knowing his father died fighting the assailant makes the loss easier to swallow. "Basically, he died in the line of his duty, in the line of his duty that he loved the most, being a professor and a researcher," he told ABC News Radio. "He gave his life." The son is heading to the United States tonight to escort his father's remains back for burial in Israel.

"He had internal strength, he was a strong man," remembers Librescu. "He had a fire in him — he was not very tall but he was hard, he was hard."

[annabanana]

1. A courageous man...

And incredibly strong...

[etherealtruth]

2. Every story associated with this tragedy is heartbreaking

The fact that this man survived the Holocaust and eventually died this way is so ... so ... I don't know ... but it is so disturbing and sad

[AlCzervik]

7. i feel the same way.

[Atman]

3. Wow.

Life deals some weird fuckin' cards. He survives Hitler and the ovens, but gets taken out school shooting in the United States.

I'm speechless.

.

[Breeze54]

4. "As they jumped out the windows... Librescu stayed behind to block the door"

A true hero!! And fifteen students lived to tell his story.

[Raine]

5. Very sad

it's all so sad. :cry:

[HockeyMom]

6. "Imagine if he had had a gun"

Freepers comment. Having know a few Holocaust survivors (including a Professor at college who taught the Holocaust), having a gun and shooting somebody else, for whatever reason, would have been the last thing any of them would ever have done. It would simply have been meeting violence with MORE violence.

[Atman]

8. Archie Bunkerism

Arm everybody. Then we'd all be safe.

:eyes:

.

[Catherine Vincent]

9. What a brave man.

:-(

[MiniMe]

10. To survive the holocaust and then die from something like this

There is just something wrong with that. But he died a hero.

[MikeNearMcChord]

11. A great passage from John 15:13.

Greater love has no one than this, that he lay down his life for his friends.

[annarbor]

14. Amen....

May they continue his legacy and one day display the same level of courage this great man showed.

Ann Arbor

[earth mom]

12. Now that is so damn sad....

:cry:

[symbolman]

13. This man should be given a post mortem

Congressional Medal of Honor.

I'm really touched by this, man, now THAT is sad..

And those two kids that put their feet at the bottom of the door, while the gunman was FIRING AT the door, those are HEROES TOO..

I believe they should now Teach URBAN SURVIVAL in schools. We've reached that point.

God bless this man.