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Va. Tech Professor, Holocaust Survivor Buried in Israel

Apr 20, 2007 | Scott Wilson | washingtonpost.com

RA'ANANA, Israel, April 20 -- Liviu Librescu, the 76-year-old professor and Holocaust survivor who died protecting his students from the Virginia Tech gunman, was eulogized Friday in a cemetery surrounded by citrus groves as a quiet hero unfailingly devoted to his students and his work.

"I believe you are looking at us from above, at this gathering, and saying 'What? Don't you have anything to do?,' " said Aryeh Librescu, one of the professor's two sons. The younger Librescu said his father would not have understood the fuss over his willingness to block a classroom door so students could escape Cho Seung Hui's murderous rampage.

The well-liked professor, his son imagined, would say simply, "I did what I had to do."

Internationally known for his work in aeronautical engineering, Librescu survived many great evils before Cho shot him to death in Blacksburg on Monday. He lived through the Holocaust as a teenager and fought against Communist dictatorship in his native Romania, eventually losing his government aerospace job when sought to emigrate to Israel.

In 1977, then-Israeli Prime Minister Menachem Begin personally intervened to secure permission for Librescu and his family to leave Romania and move to the Jewish state. Librescu taught and researched in Israel until the mid-1980s, when he left for a sabbatical at Virginia Tech that eventually turned permanent. He loved the rural setting of the university, and enjoyed music, sports, hiking and travel, his family said. But those who spoke at the funeral in Ra'anana, where Librescu's sons live, said the professor valued his research and teaching above all.

"Where did he die? In the heart of the academy, in the classroom," said Tel Aviv University professor Yakov Aboudi, a longtime friend and former colleague. "Was there a better place for him? It's where he wanted to be."

More than 100 people -- relatives, friends and strangers moved to tears by his story -- attended Librescu's funeral. They stood in a courtyard around the shroud-wrapped body, shade trees offering some respite from the bright glare of the sun. The funeral appeared to be the first for any of Cho's 32 victims. Virginia's medical examiner said earlier this week that it would take days to finish identifying and examining all the bodies so they can be released.

A representative of the Romanian government said Librescu was being posthumously awarded the Star of Romania, with the highest rank that can be given to civilians. Chabad, the outreach arm of Lubavitcher Hasidim, said the organization would open a Jewish center for students in Blacksburg in Librescu's name.

Those official tributes were made alongside poignant personal remembrances. Eulogies were offered by both of Librescu's sons, a childhood friend from Romania and Marlena Librescu, the professor's wife of 42 years.

"Every year there are fewer and fewer of us, of this age and from that place," said Zvi Ben-Dov, 75, who grew up with Librescu in the village of Focsani, then immigrated to Israel as a teenager and rekindled the friendship when Librescu joined him there. The two had recently talked about returning to Focsani together, for the first time in six decades.

Marlena Librescu wept openly as she recalled her husband's wisdom and advice and thanked him for the many years of marriage and their two sons.

"I feel a lot of pain thinking of the last few minutes of your life," she said. "I hope very much that where you are now you will protect the family . . . I hope where you are it will be easy for you, my dear."

Joe Librescu, who has told reporters he attended Virginia Tech while his father taught there, also addressed his father directly in his remarks.

"I'm proud of you. I walked in the street today proud I have such a father," he said. "You taught me right from wrong. Sometimes I didn't hear you. My ears are wide open to you right now."