Teacher's bravery let students flee

Teacher's bravery let students flee

<b>Ewen MacAskill
Wednesday April 18, 2007</b>
<a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/usguns/Story/0,,2059729,00.html">The Guardian</a>

A survivor of the Holocaust died trying to save his students from the Virginia Tech gunman, it emerged yesterday.
Liviu Librescu, 76, who survived the Nazi killings, later escaped from communist Romania to become a respected aeronautics expert.

"My father blocked the doorway with his body and asked the students to flee," his son, Joe Librescu, said from his home outside Tel Aviv.

Student Alec Calhoun told the Guardian how Mr Librescu&#39;s bravery bought him precious seconds after the killer started shooting in the next room. "I thought I was going to die. I started to make a barricade of desks."

Mr Calhoun went to jump out of the window. It was then he saw Mr Librescu. "I hung on to the ledge. The professor was trying to hold the door closed. I was the last one out that was not wounded."

When he finally forced his way in, Mr Librescu threw himself in front of the attacker, a student told Israel&#39;s Army Radio. "He was killed but thanks to him his students lived," the student said. Messages were posted on the web praising the professor. "No act could be more selfless." one poster wrote.

<B>On Guardian Unlimited</B><BR><A HREF="http://www.guardian.co.uk/usa/virginiashooting/">Full coverage of the Virginia Tech shootings</A><BR><A HREF="http://www.guardian.co.uk/usguns/0,,182056,00.html">Gun violence in the US</A><BR><A HREF="http://www.guardian.co.uk/gun/0,,178412,00.html">Gun violence in Britain</A><BR><A HREF="http://www.guardian.co.uk/usa/0,,759893,00.html">Full US coverage</A><BR><BR><B>Related articles</B><BR><A HREF="http://www.guardian.co.uk/usguns/Story/0,,2059217,00.html">Virginia massacre gunman named</A><BR><A HREF="http://www.guardian.co.uk/usa/story/0,,2059103,00.html">Unofficial list of shooting victims emerges</A><BR><A HREF="http://www.guardian.co.uk/usa/story/0,,2058887,00.html">Massacre on campus</A><BR><A HREF="http://www.guardian.co.uk/usa/story/0,,2059250,00.html">Q&A: US gun laws</A><BR><BR><B>World news guide</B><BR><A HREF="http://www.guardian.co.uk/worldnewsguide/northamerica/0,,618255,00.html">North American Media</A><BR><BR><B>Media</B><BR><A HREF="http://edition.cnn.com/">CNN</A><BR><A HREF="http://www.nytimes.com/">New York Times</A><BR><A HREF="http://www.washingtonpost.com/">Washington Post</A><BR><BR><B>Government</B><BR><A HREF="http://www.state.va.us/cmsportal2/">Virginia state government portal</A><BR><A HREF="http://www.usa.gov/">US government portal</A><BR><A HREF="http://www.whitehouse.gov/">White House</A><BR><A HREF="http://www.senate.gov/">Senate</A><BR><A HREF="http://www.house.gov/">House of Representatives</A>

Copyright Guardian News & Media Ltd 2007.

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Original Source:<a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/usguns/Story/0,,2059729,00.html">http://www.guardian.co.uk/usguns/Story/0,,2059729,00.html</a>

Ewen MacAskill

The Guardian

2007-08-12

Adriana Seagle

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