In a cruel twist of fate, an engineering lecturer who survived the Holocaust and fled communist Romania was shot dead Monday morning during the massacre that killed 32 at Virginia Tech.

Witnesses have said Liviu Librescu, 76, died trying to keep the gunman out of his second-floor classroom and that his efforts may have saved the lives of some of his students, whom he encouraged to escape through the windows.

“He certainly showed his true character trying to protect the kids,” an engineering professor at Virginia Tech, Joseph Schetz, told The New York Sun. “I’m not surprised by what he did. He was a people person.”

A makeshift shrine with flowers and a photograph of Librescu was set up on the Blacksburg, Va., campus yesterday.

Librescu was one of two Virginia Tech faculty members who were killed when a 23-year-old student from South Korea, Cho Seung-Hui, went on a shooting rampage in a dormitory, West Ambler Johnston Hall, and in classrooms at Norris Hall.

The head of the engineering science and mechanics department, Ishwar Puri, said of Librescu: “He was an exceptionally tolerant man who mentored scholars from all over our troubled world.”

Librescu survived the Holocaust in a labor camp in Transnistria and in a Jewish ghetto in Focsani, Romania. After World War II, he studied in Romania, earning degrees in aeronautical engineering and a doctorate in fluid mechanics. He worked for the state aerospace agency but faced roadblocks in Romania because he refused to pledge allegiance to the communist regime of Nicolae Ceausescu.

After Prime Minister Begin of Israel intervened on behalf of Jews living in Romania, Librescu and his family were allowed to immigrate to Israel in 1978. There he worked at Israeli universities before taking what was to be a sabbatical year at Virginia Tech more than 20 years ago. He instead decided to put down roots.

An engineering professor at Virginia Tech who had known Librescu for about two decades, Rakesh Kapania, said his colleague “was not known to speak about his past.” In an interview, Mr. Kapania said Librescu was a “good teacher” and a “kind-hearted person” who would be missed by his colleagues and students.

A longtime lecturer at the university, Librescu was teaching a class this semester in solid mechanics. He was a frequent contributor to academic journals and was to deliver the keynote lecture at a scientific conference in Taipei, Taiwan, in June.

“I know he did very good research,” an engineering professor at Virginia Tech, Mayuresh Patil, said. “You can look at his list of publications. He was very prolific.”

Mr. Patil, 33, said Librecu was well-liked by his younger colleagues because he was supportive of their research but never patronizing. “He was a well-known, well-respected guy,” Mr. Patil, who first met Librescu about 10 years ago, said.

Librescu is survived by his wife, Marlena Librescu, and two sons, Arieh Librescu and Joseph Librescu.

“I lost my best friend,” Mrs. Librescu said yesterday. “He was a great person who loved teaching more than anything.”

Librescu will be buried in Israel.