There are no words for the bravery that Holocaust survivor and Professor Liviu Librescu showed in Virginia Tech on that fateful day.
The Holocaust Survivor Hero of the Virginia Tech Shooting
There are people in the world who show a type of courage, bravery, and selflessness that is superhuman. Professor Liviu Librescu exemplified those exact traits. The care he showed for his students was unique. The love he had for what he did in life was remarkable. In a state of utter chaos on that tragic day at Virginia Tech, he created some sense of calm and order for the students he cared so much for. As a Holocaust survivor, he suffered in ways that our minds cannot fathom. As a Holocaust survivor, he lived through one of the darkest times in human history. And as a Holocaust survivor, Professor Librescu chose to continue living and to make a difference in the lives of others. Even after the Holocaust, he survived Communism and more.
But it is what he chose to do with his life even after all the suffering that is unbelievable. And then how he chose to live the last moments of his life is nothing short of heroic.
The Virginia Tech shooting was the deadliest in U.S. history. And it happened on Yom Hashoah, Holocaust Remembrance Day. And on top of that, the man who saved his students was not only a Jewish professor, but a Holocaust survivor.
G-d controls the world. We cannot know why He orchestrates events the way He does. But what we could do is learn from the heroes of those events. We can strive to be better and to honor their memories.
Professor Liviu Librescu deserves to be remembered on Yom Hashoah and always.