CLEVELAND — It’s been one year since the deadly shooting at the Tree of Life synagogue in Pittsburgh’s Squirrel Hill neighborhood that left 11 people dead and several others injured.
The accused shooter, Robert Bowers, is in custody facing capital murder charges at the federal level, along with other state charges against him.
This year, the Kol Israel Foundation of Cleveland is rolling out new education programs to help prevent the spread of hatred that likely fueled last year's attack. Kol Israel was organized 60 years ago as a social club for holocaust survivors. Since then, it has evolved to include survivors’ descendants with a focus on educating the public on what hate can lead to.
“Our mission has always been not only to educate about the holocaust, but also remembrance and to celebrate that resilience,” said Jeremy Joseph, a third-generation holocaust Survivor.
Joseph is one of dozens in attendance at Sunday’s Celebration of Generations event held to honor survivors’ resilience.
“They had everything taken away from them, literally,” said Joseph speaking about survivors. “It’s something I can’t imagine. Their homes, their families [taken away]. They had nothing.”
85-year-old Holocaust survivor Louise Gips reflected on her personal experience.
“They couldn’t possibly ever comprehend what we went through,” said Gips. “My dad had 2 sisters and [a] brother… children. I don’t have one cousin left.”
And for Gips, last years deadly shooting renewed old pain.
“Being a holocaust survivor, it was heartbreaking,” she said. “I feel for the victims. Innocent people. For the people, the survivors which is not easy to be either.”
Joseph added, “It’s tragic that so many years after the holocaust ended, this kind of intolerance and this kind of hate still exist in the world.”
Gips, Joseph and other members of the Kol Israel Foundation believe education is the key to curtailing antisemitism – a growing concern for those in the Jewish community.
Research by the American Jewish Committee shows 88% of American Jews say antisemitism is a problem in the U.S. More than third called it a very serious problem. 31% of the Jews polled have avoided publicly wearing, carrying or displaying things that might help people identify them as Jews.
Gips agrees antisemitism is rising as of late.
“It is worse,” Gips said comparing today to when she came to the U.S. “But it doesn’t seem to be hate against us only. It seems to affect the whole country.”
The Face to Face Holocaust education program offers students and others in the community a chance to learn about Judaism and meet holocaust survivors to get a first-hand account of history. This and other education programs like it are what Kol Israel uses to educate others and help rid the world of hate for one another.
“We are helping the world by teaching what can happen from hate,” said Gips.