U.S. President George W. Bush paid tribute yesterday to an Israeli professor who died while trying to save students during the shooting spree at Virginia Polytechnic Institute.

Liviu Librescu, 76, was gunned down while blocking the doorway into his classroom long enough to allow students to jump from windows during the rampage that claimed 32 lives on Monday, a day that coincided with Holocaust Remembrance Day. Bush honored Librescu, a Holocaust survivor, during a speech at the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum to mark the slaughter of six million Jews at the hands of Nazi Germany.

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"This brave professor blocked the door with his body while his students fled to safety," Bush said.

"On the day of remembrance, this Holocaust survivor gave his own life so others may live," he said. "We honor his memory, we take strength from his example."

Librescu was born in Romania, is an Israeli citizen and had lived in the United States for 20 years. Librescu was posthumously honored in his homeland yesterday. Romanian President Traian Basescu signed a decree, awarding Librescu the highest national decoration, the Order of the Star of Romania for his "heroism" during the massacre.

Librescu's body was flown to Israel yesterday, where he would be buried either tomorrow or Friday at the cemetery in Ra'anana. His wife, Marilena, accompanied his coffin on the flight from New York to Tel Aviv, said 37-year-old son Arieh. Both the couple's sons, Arieh and Joe, live in Israel.