Photo EssayAs the Pittsburgh shooter is sentenced to death, remember the lives of his victims
A closer look at the lives lost in the synagogue shooting
Illustration by DenBerg
Photo EssayAs the Pittsburgh shooter is sentenced to death, remember the lives of his victims
A closer look at the lives lost in the synagogue shooting
DenBerg June 26, 2023
When future historians write of the American Jewish experience, their narrative will be divided in two parts: Everything leading up to the Tree of Life massacre, and everything that came after.
The shattering murder of 11 Jews at prayer on Shabbat morning on Oct. 27, 2018 in Pittsburgh sent shockwaves through American Jewish communities. It rattled a sense of relative safety that many American Jews had felt for decades, and signaled the beginning of a rise in antisemitic rhetoric and violence in the United States.
Nearly five years later, a jury has determined that the perpetrator should receive the death penalty. As the world reacts to the verdict, illustrator DenBerg chose to commemorate the 11 lives that were lost in Tree of Life.
Among the victims are two brothers who were synagogue mainstays, a doctor who treated HIV patients, and a couple who were gunned down in the same shul they got married in sixty-two years earlier.
May their memories be forever a blessing.
To contact the author, email opinion@forward.com.
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