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Liviu Librescu

17 April 2007

The number of Holocaust survivors is rapidly dwindling and one of the best among them lost his life yesterday. He was shot by the deranged killer at Virginia Tech while barring the killer’s ability to shoot students. This man, who lived through one of the most horrible atrocities in human history lost his life in the worst mass murder in US history Life is full of ironies and this is among the most amazing.

Librescu, 77, was born in Romania and moved to Israel in 1978. He came to the US on sabbatical in 1986 and decided to stay. He has two sons in Israel.

Librescu is the very definition of a hero. His life will be celebrated. My heart goes out to his family but I am certain they are tremendously proud of him. Because of his efforts many students are still alive today. The death toll might have been over 40 if not for the selfless act of this man.

From the Macon Telegraph:

When Romania joined forces with Nazi Germany in World War II, the young Librescu was interned in a labor camp, and then sent along with his family and thousands of other Jews to a central ghetto in the city of Focsani, his son said. Hundreds of thousands of Romanian Jews were killed by the collaborationist regime during the war.

Librescu later found work at a government aerospace company. But his career was stymied in the 1970s because he refused to swear allegiance to the Communist regime, his son said, and he was later fired when he requested permission to move to Israel.

In 1977, according to his son, Israel’s then-Prime Minister Menachem Begin personally intervened to get the family an emigration permit, and they left for Israel in 1978.

Librescu left Israel for Virginia in 1985 for a sabbatical year, but eventually made the move permanent, said Joe Librescu: “His work was his life in a sense.”

Sources:

http://www.esm.vt.edu/php/person.php?id=10023
http://www.playfuls.com/news_10_24663-Liviu-Librescu-A-Holocaust-Survivor-Killed-At-Virginia-Tech.html
http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/nationworld/chi-070417-shooting-tribute-story,1,6969078.story?coll=chi-newsnationworld-hed
http://stoptheaclu.com/archives/2007/04/17/now-here-is-a-real-man-holocaust-survivor-shielded-students-at-va-tech/print/
http://www.macon.com/279/story/20483.html