Results: Incredible Stories Of Survival From Survivors

On the morning of April 16, 2007, Professor Liviu Librescu was teaching a solid mechanics class in room 204 of Virginia Tech University Norris Hall when Sueng-Hui Cho, a 23-year-old Virginia Tech senior, began a rampage that claimed the lives of 32 people. According to eyewitnesses, at the sound of gunshots Librescu blocked the door of his classroom, which could not be locked from the inside. Cho eventually forced his way in and shot Librescu with a semi-automatic pistol—but by that point, 22 of his students had already climbed out a window and jumped to safety. He died that day a hero, but his life could have been ended years before, as he and his family narrowly escaped being shipped off to one of Hitler's concentration camps. A Romanian Jew, he was one of the lucky ones who escaped. The Nazis and their Romanian allies murdered an estimated 270,000 Romanian Jews during the Holocaust, out of a pre-war population of 728,000. Twelve years later, perhaps Librescu's greatest legacy is that he gave 22 people a chance to continue their lives: As was said in a memorial for him years later, by his former head of department, Iswhar Puri, "You're saving the person momentarily. You're saving a life. You're saving 22 lives. Those 22 lives then go on to contribute to society. They multiply. Those 22 lives go on into other generations. I mean that's what's mind-blowing about what Liviu did. It's quite possible that some of the students who were students 10 years ago have kids today. It's because of one man, right?" Do you ever think this way?

During WWII, an old hospital in Rome run by friars fooled the Third Reich and saved the lives of hundreds of Jewish individuals. They did it by inventing a fake disease called K Syndrome. Though it sounded like Koch syndrome, or tuberculosis, K Syndrome was completely made up. The head physician at the hospital, Giovanni Borromeo, hid hundreds of Jewish people in his hospital wards by diagnosing them with K Syndrome. For two years, the SS stormed Rome's Jewish ghetto, deporting thousands to concentration camps. When the camps were liberated, less than a hundred survived. Thanks to the quick thinking of Dr. Borromeo and his assistants, however, many lives were saved. During the war, Hitler's regime raided the hospital looking for individuals of Jewish heritage, and the hospital staff warned them about the deadly, contagious K Syndrome. The fake syndrome protected hundreds during the Third Reich's occupation. Fearing for their own lives, they left the hospital, and this happened every time they returned. In 2004, Yad Vashem, the World Holocaust Remembrance Center, recognized Giovanni Borromeo for risking his life to save people of Jewish heritage. Have you ever heard the story of this brave man?

For Holocaust survivor Henry Orenstein, creating a world of fun was his revenge on the Nazis. To save the lives of his siblings and parents, Orenstein, who was held at Budzyn, a German labor camp near Krasnik, Poland, told the SS that his family was entirely composed of scientists and medical doctors, which saved them from extermination. He did not know at the time that they would be used by the Nazis to build a superweapon to save the Third Reich. The Nazis killed his parents, and years in concentration camps almost killed his spirit, but when Henry Orenstein was finally liberated, he went on to create some of the world's most popular toys, proving that playing well is the best revenge. He is responsible for creating the Dawn doll (which gave Barbie some competition), Johnny 7 One Man Army, Johnny Lightning racing cars, Suzy Homemaker appliances, Zoomer Boomer trucks, several Sesame Street toys, but his most famous invention is probably known to everyone -- the Transformers line of toys, which even inspired a movie franchise. Have you heard this man's incredible story of survival?

Some of the stories of Holocaust survivors are familiar to many of us -- and some are not, but all deserve to be told. My friend's aunt was one of the K Syndrome hospitalized patients in Italy, and she went on to give birth to a man who became a pediatric oncologist, and has saved thousands of children's lives, at Toronto's SickKids Hospital. Have you heard an inspiring story about a survivor that you would like to share?