On Jan. 27, 1945, the Soviet army arrived at the Auschwitz-Birkenau concentration camp in Nazi Germany-occupied Poland to find more than 6,000 survivors. In honor of that liberation, and the memory of the more than 6 million people murdered during the Holocaust, the United Nations General Assembly in 2005 designated this Friday, Jan. 27, as International Holocaust Remembrance Day.
In Pittsburgh, we also remember the 11 members of the communitywho were murdered on Oct. 27, 2018, when a gunman entered the Tree of Life synagogue in Squirrel Hill. To address a rise in global antisemitism and to create cross-communal bonds, the Rauh Jewish History Program and Archives at the Heinz History Center has launched The October 27 Archive website to document the antisemitic attack in Pittsburgh.
The October 27 Archive documents the local healing process, as well as the global outpouring of support. (Courtesy of The Heinz History Center’s Rauh Jewish History Program & Archives)
The program has collected tens of thousands of documents, artifacts, and news articles chronicling local efforts to heal from the massacre. The site currently has 150 of these objects and will grow over the next few months. You can also view their “Meetings of October 27th” oral history project reflecting the Jewish experience in Western Pennsylvania.
During this week of commemoration for the millions of lives lost to hate and antisemitism, take some time to explore this project created to educate, connect, and inspire healing.
