A Hero Remembered

Yesterday marked two extremely sad occasions. One was Holocaust Remembrance Day in Israel (Yom HaShoah) and the other was the massacre of 32 students and faculty at Virginia Tech. There was a common thread between the two.

Out of the pain and suffering come tales of heroism and hope.

One of the heroes from the scene at Virginia Tech had a connection to the Holocaust. He was a Holocaust survivor who gave his life so that others could live.

Liviu Librescu put his body between the gunman shooting up Norris Hall classrooms and his students. He used his body to keep the door closed and gave his students time to escape through the window before being shot to death by Cho.

Professor Liviu Librescu, 76, threw himself in front of the shooter when the man attempted to enter his classroom. The Israeli mechanics and engineering lecturer was shot to death, "but all the students lived - because of him," Virginia Tech student Asael Arad - also an Israeli - told Army Radio.

Several of Librescu's other students sent e-mails to his wife, Marlena, telling of how he blocked the gunman's way and saved their lives, said Librescu's son, Joe.

"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."

His final act was one of supreme sacrifice. He was a hero.

Others noting Librescu's heroism: Hot Air, The Jawa Report, Israellycool, and Law School Conservative.

It was also an act of hope.

Words cannot describe the kind of heroism involved, but Librescu wasn't alone. Andrea Peyser notes another hero from the scene of such carnage.

UPDATE:
Ed Morrissey points to another hero - a student named Derek O'Dell who blocked a door with his body to keep Cho from entering another classroom.